Lesson in Survival
by samantha.e.anne
Summary: Sara Trent is only sure of one thing in life: she loves Patrick Cullen. What happens when things fall apart? [Chapter 12 Posted] BellaxEdward, PatrickxSara
1. Prologue

The only sound I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat as the whole world faded around me. I embraced the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I sprinted across the open surroundings. I skidded to a stop, only half remembering that my legs needed to stop moving. I took a shaky breath and steeled myself to what was going to happen next.

"Wait!" I turned, of course he had come after me.

"I have to, it's the only way."

"You don't have to do this, I promise you. We'll find a way to stop them. Please, just don't do this," he was as close to tears and desperation as he could be.

I smiled wistfully as he held out his arms. I took a step towards him and buried my face in his chest, happy again, if only for a brief moment. I tipped my head back to look at him and kissed him, one last time for eternity. I broke the kiss and placed my hand on his face.

"It's better this way. All living things must come to an end."

He looked absolutely heartbroken as I stepped back, but he made no movement to stop me.

That's when I jumped.


	2. The Laws Have Changed

The meaning of life has been rewritten, because I got stuck and ended up hating everything I came up with. So here goes nothing.

_One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love _– Sophocles

_But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perseverance of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way. _– Jane Austen

**Chapter 1: The Laws have Changed.**

If you had told me six months ago that I would have been living in a tiny town in Washington I would have laughed in your face. I'd been living in New York City for my whole life and I expected to live there until I was done with high school. As far as I was concerned we would never move. Enter my mother, stage left. I'm sure you've seen her movies. She was nominated for three Oscars and has made _People _magazine's Most Beautiful List six times. If you haven't heard of her, than you've probably been living under a rock. Lucky you.

Our lives all changed the week after my brother Jack's 17th birthday, when she dropped the bombshell. We were all coming back on the studio's jet from our trip to Europe when she had decided to tell us that we were all moving to Washington. Jack, ever the burgeoning politician, had automatically assumed she meant Washington D.C. and had immediately expressed his excitement. I was cautiously enthused. That was my new thing, besides obvious disdain of course.

That's when my father had to put his two cents in. We were actually moving to a tiny inconsequential town a little bit out of Seattle, so my mother could make a new movie with the newest wunderkind director, some Podunk from South Dakota, who'd probably had had her poster up on his wall as a teenager. Gross.

It was only for a year, but that seemed like an eternity to me, and it was. Not only were we moving away from New York City, which was the only place to live, but I also couldn't go back to my boarding school for the second semester. My mother, in one of her moods, had decided that Jack and I would both be attending the local public school. It was fine for Jack, because all he needed was a baseball team and he was happy, but it meant hell for me. Girls in public school wouldn't understand what it was like to be me. My old school had been comprised of girls like me, rich, privileged and used to celebrity.

Yet, here we were, driving up to a bunch of square buildings, getting ready for an eye-opening experience. The two of us were silent the whole car ride to school. Even though we were two years apart, Jack and I were best friends. After all, when all you've got two parents that are married to their jobs, you tend to bond. That was the only reason why I'd been popular in school. Jack was charismatic, something he'd gotten from both of our parents, and he made friends easily. So when I'd shown up at school two years later, he'd been able to introduce me to all of the juniors and seniors he was friends with. Unfortunately, it had also meant that I'd started dating an acquaintance of his. Vince had been a junior, like Jack, and he'd been a basketball player. Much to Jack's dismay, Vince had refused to break it off and we'd dated for most of the year before lacrosse season. Then of course, I ended it. I had felt bad about it until Jack had offhandedly mentioned that Vince had hooked up with some skank from our rival school a few days after we had broken up.

Jack pulled up next to a silver Volvo, practically the only nice car in the whole parking lot. He turned the car off and opened his door. I sat in my seat still, twisting my hands nervously. He must have sensed that I hadn't moved at all because he turned back to me.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked, his eyes down at the steering wheel.

I sighed and tried to put on a brave smile, "As ready as I'll ever be. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Shoot."

"If I don't make any friends can I sit with you at lunch?"

He grinned at me, "I'm sure that it will be me who has to sit with you Sara. Don't worry about it, you've always made friends easily."

"Yeah, whatever Jack," I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go."

We walked briskly towards the nearest building, which according to its sign was administration. The door jingled when it opened and the receptionist's head shot up.

"Hello," she greeted us enthusiastically. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Jack Trent and this is my little sister Sara. We're already registered, someone should have come by earlier this week."

"Yes of course, the Trents," she paused, in thought. "You know, the name of your mother sounds extremely familiar."

Jack looked uncomfortable, while I just stood there, a little annoyed at this receptionist. So I decided to give her a little gossip.

"Well," I leaned in conspiratorially. "She was on People's Most Beautiful list two years ago."

"Oh my, so I was right!" The receptionist looked positively giddy as Jack elbowed me a glare on his face. "You know, the two of you look just like her. I have seen all of your mother's movies. Is it true that -?"

"Our schedules please?" Jack asked pointedly.

"Here you are," she said, still excited.

We turned to leave as the receptionist tried to compose herself.

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul, your secret is safe with me." She called to us as we left.

Jack turned to me. "Great, Sara, this is just great. This is exactly what we needed on our first day of school."

"She said she wouldn't tell anyone, Jack. I, for one, believe her," I tried to defend my actions, but Jack wasn't having any of it.

"Whatever, Sara, whatever. Why don't you just go to your little sophomore classes and I'll see you later." He strode off in the opposite direction as me.

"Wait!" I hurried after him, grateful when he stopped. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, just frustrated. Really, really frustrated."

"Well," I looked at him hopefully. "Can I sit with you at lunch still?"

"You're unbelievable," Jack scoffed. "But yes, dearest sister, you can still sit with me at lunch if you become incredibly repulsive in the next three hours. Now, go to English, you're going to be late."

We waved goodbye as we set off for our different classes. As soon as he rounded the corner I slumped dejectedly. Who was I kidding? I hadn't really had a lot of friends my own age at school. I was mostly friends with Jack's friends and I suspected that he had done some sort of threatening on my behalf. Still, the few friends I'd had in my own grade had been nice enough, but I always wondered if they had maybe only been friends with me for ulterior motives. If Jack could hear my thoughts he would have lectured me before reassuring me that I was fun to be around. I stopped before the classroom that my schedule had said was my first period class. I took a deep breath, wished for luck, and walked in.

The teacher was apparently in the middle of a lecture, on my first day no less. He broke off mid sentence and just stared at me. "And you are?"

"Sara Trent." I squeaked, immediately embarrassed. "I'm new here and –"

"This apple," the teacher interrupted me and held out a small apple. "What would you say it looked like?"

I looked at him, in what I was sure was an idiotic manner. "Excuse me?"

"The apple Miss Trent." He held it out again. "How would you describe it?"

"It's red and round." I said, still not getting the point.

"Class, this is what we call an unenlightened mind. My purpose in this class is to educate you. I can tell you, Miss Trent, that it will be a difficult class for you, but if you listen in class and make observations you will somehow manage to succeed. Now, sit down, you're interrupting my lecture."

I made my way to the only empty seat, in the middle of the classroom, amid curious stares. I sat down and slouched. If only my mother could see me now. I had decided to wear something she would have never approved of and I'm sure she would have been horrified. It was actually really cute, but she hated anything inappropriate.

A boy leaned across the aisle towards me. "Nice shirt. I'm Randy, by the way."

I looked at him, giving him a once over. He was pretty cute, with brown shaggy hair, tall for a sophomore in high school. I smiled at him. "My mom hates it, she says it gives people the wrong impression."

"I'm sure it does," he remarked dryly. "So is today your first day?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Yeah, it is. But don't mind DK, he just takes a little getting used to."

"Who's DK?" I realized a beat later that he was talking about the teacher.

"Dr. Kaiser. He used to teach college philosophy, but he wanted to retire to Forks, it's where he grew up. I guess the bug of teaching made him decide to go back to teaching. You must be pretty smart though. This is the advanced English class and they don't just put people in it."

Dr. Kaiser, or I guess DK, looked over at us, silencing us with a single stare. Randy smiled sheepishly at me and turned back towards his notes.

The rest of the morning went by pretty smoothly. I was taken to most of my classes by random people who seemed to all know Randy. By the time lunch came around a slim blonde named Cindy was taking me towards the cafeteria. She was definitely a talker. I listened to her chatter excitedly about her latest trip to the mall. Whenever I felt her look at me I made the appropriate noises. I was distracted though by Jack falling into step with me.

"Trent!" He exclaimed. "How was your morning?"

"I believe the correct question, Trent, was how wasn't my morning?"

"Sounds exciting. Also sounds like you won't be needing a lunch date." He clutched his chest in mock anguish. "I have to tell you, I'm crushed that you won't be needing your big brother. Tell you what, I'll have my people call your people to reschedule." He waved behind him as he hurried to catch up with someone.

"Who's that?" Cindy asked curiously.

I rolled my eyes. "That was my brother, the incorrigible Jonathan Trent. He prefers Jack though."

"He's cute, does he date?"

"Yeah, he's been known to date."

"Thank god, all the other gorgeous boys at our school don't date. Or at least, they don't date any of us."

I was puzzled by her remark, but we'd already entered the cafeteria, so I didn't have a chance to talk with her before she was accosted by her friends. I waited in line, shuddering at the choices that were offered, when an arm was slung across my shoulder.

"So, Sara, how was the rest of your morning?" Randy and a few of his friends were suddenly next to me.

"It was fine," I said lightly. "Better now that it's over though."

"Why don't you sit with us, since it seems that you don't have a lunch date?" A few of his friends snickered quietly amongst themselves. He silenced them with a glare, probably something he didn't want me to see, but I've always been observant.

"Sure, why not." I picked up my tray and followed the pack of boys towards an empty table in the center of the room. As I passed by the various tables I was painfully aware of the fact that conversation would stop and stares would be directed towards me. I felt, for a minute, a little sympathy for my mom whenever she went to premieres. Then I realized that it was my mom and the sympathy was forgotten.

As Randy and his friends chatted about the day I let my gaze wander the room. I saw Cindy and her friends, Jack and what looked to be almost the whole football and baseball teams gathered around him and that's when I saw him.

I poked Randy. "Who's that?"

He looked where I was looking and rolled his eyes. "Oh, you mean the Cullens?"

I noted from the way he almost spat out the word 'Cullens', that maybe this wasn't the best person to ask. But I perservered anyway, "Yes, the Cullens. Who are they?"

"They're Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's perfect little adopted teenagers." This was Alan, I think, who seemed to be Randy's best friend. "The two blondes are Rosalie and Jasper, they're twins. The short one is Alice, she's dating Jasper and the huge weightlifter is Emmett, he's Rosalie's boyfriend. Coach keeps trying to get Emmett out for football, but he refuses. He's exactly what we needed this year too. The two lone wolves are Edward, the redhead, and Patrick, he just came this year."

"Oh." I took each one of them in. There were the two most obvious teens, Rosalie and Emmett. Even though they weren't looking at one another, the way that they sat, with their chairs facing into one another's made it clear that they were very close. Rosalie was drop dead gorgeous, clearly someone destined to be a model. I scrutinized her face, looking for a flaw, but I found none, except the dark shadows under her eyes. I recognized the look on her face as casual disdain. Obviously, this girl was used to better things than Forks High School. Emmett, who was quite possibly the biggest teenager I'd ever seen, had a neutral expression on his face, almost as if he waited for Rosalie to make her mind before he made up his.

I let my gaze travel further down the table to Alice and Jasper. Jasper seemed worried about something and Alice, even though she was turned away from him slightly also had a worried expression on her face. She suddenly got up and he followed her. He was a giant compared to her, at least 6'3" and she was not an inch over five feet. They both glided over to the trashcans, throwing away their full trays before exiting the cafeteria.

I returned to the table. Edward was slowly shredding a napkin, but Patrick's back was facing me, so I couldn't see what he was doing. I noticed that just like Jasper and Alice, all of the remaining Cullens had empty trays. I'd heard of family mentalities, but what kind of family didn't eat anything at all. I was about to ask Randy if maybe the Cullens weren't normal when I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. All of a sudden, Edward's head shot up and he looked straight at me, or rather, as I turned around, at a girl right behind me. Whoever she was, she now had her hair in front of her face, as her lunch companion giggled. I looked back at Edward but he was back to his napkin, slowly shredding it into smaller and smaller pieces. Patrick stood up and grabbed his tray, he turned around to walk away but Edward seemed to say something to him, even though his lips barely moved. Patrick's eyes met mine and I blushed. He smirked and walked to the back of the cafeteria. He deposited his tray and almost as if he knew I was still looking at him he found me again. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and turned towards Edward, who had followed him. They both looked at me and then left the cafeteria.

Forks was definitely a strange place.

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**Playlist:**

The Laws have Changed – The New Pornographers

Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken – Camera Obscura

Come On – Client

Insincere – The Dandy Warhols

Andy Warhol – David Bowie

Feels Just Like It Should – Jamiroquai

Down on Me – Janis Joplin


	3. I'm Always Touched By Your Presence Dear

**Disclaimer:** The Cullens & Bella so aren't mine. It's not even funny.

**Chapter 2: (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear**

I got directions from Randy to where my French class was and I was standing outside of the room, waiting for the teacher. I noticed that the same girl who Edward Cullen had been staring at was walking down the hall with another brunette. As she walked past me she tripped, falling over the air. I grabbed her and helped her steady herself.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." She looked freaked out, as if the whole day was too much for her already. I could sympathize.

"It's fine, I'm Sara."

"Bella," she smiled sweetly. "I'm such a klutz and you're probably the third person I've tripped near in the past hour."

I grinned at her. She seemed really nice and I wondered if maybe we could be friends. "Well, I'm not that klutzy, but I've had my moments."

Her companion called her over to her classroom. "Well, I have to go, but I'll see you around. Okay?"

"Bye," I called to her as she walked away. She waved in response and I turned back towards the classroom, running into someone as I did so.

"Ouch," I rubbed my forehead and looked up at whomever I had run into. Patrick.

He looked bemused. "Do you always run into people you just met?"

"I haven't exactly met you before," I pointed out.

"Patrick Cullen," he extended his right arm out towards me. I took it and the familiar rush of hormonal chemistry rushed through my arm. Then I noticed how cold his hand was, but I didn't say anything. Maybe he had just come in through the door and he hadn't had any gloves.

"Sara Trent."

"I know," he commented. "We've heard about you."

"You have?"

"Oh yes, the whole school has been buzzing about three new people arriving on the same day. But you were only mentioned a couple of times. People are much more interested in the Police Chief's daughter, Isabella Swan."

"Bella?" I hadn't realized that Bella was also new to Forks. That explained her facial expression.

"Yes, the whole town's been eagerly awaiting the return of the prodigal daughter, so to speak."

The teacher, a Madame Dufour, had already unlocked the classroom and we were soon the only two left in the hallway. Patrick brushed past me lightly and moved towards the back of the room. I hung back, until the teacher noticed me. She directed me towards the back of the room, where the only empty seat was next to Patrick. He smiled at me briefly before turning his attention towards the front of the classroom.

I spent most of the class period sneaking glances at Patrick. It was amazing to me that such a family could exist. Even meeting all of my mother's costars and their families had never yielded uniform physical perfection. Patrick, like everyone else in his family, had purple shadows under his eyes. His eyes were a deep golden color that I had never seen on a human being and they complemented his dark hair. Class ended too soon and I reluctantly stood up. I had P.E. next period, one of my favorite classes. I walked outside of the classroom and noticed Bella walking with a pale blond boy who had spiked hair, which was totally not a good look for him.

"Bella!" I called out. She turned around slowly; smiling when she saw it was me.

"Hey Sara. This is Mike; he's in my biology class. What's your next class?" Mike was glaring at me, but I just shot him a look back.

"P.E., but I don't know where the gym is. What about you?"

"Me too," Bella exclaimed. "Great, we can walk together. Mike has it too, but Jessica was looking for you earlier Mike, maybe you should go see what's going on."

Mike grumbled, but walked away looking for some girl named Jessica. Bella turned to me. "So, how was school today? This has definitely been an interesting first day."

"It's my first day too," I explained. "But it's been pretty okay. I've met a few new people, but not too many I could see myself befriending. Though, Patrick Cullen is pretty nice. What about you?"

"Oh." She seemed perplexed. "You talked with one of the Cullens? I have Edward in Biology, but he doesn't seem to like me at all. I don't think I did anything though, he probably just had a bad day."

"Probably," I agreed. No need to tell her that he was staring straight at her during Lunch. We may have been friendly, but she probably would have been a little freaked about that.

"I have to warn you, I'm extremely bad at sports. So, I'm really sorry if I hurt you. It's not intentional, I swear." Bella seemed uneasy as we walked out into the gym.

"Not a problem. Tell you what, if we ever need partners, I'll help you out."

"Thanks, that would be great." Bella seemed a little less worried as she took in the sight of the gym.

"What would be great?" Mike asked suspiciously as he walked up behind Bella.

I had no idea who this guy was really, but I didn't like him. He had just met Bella, yet he was acting like a controlling boyfriend. I felt I had to intervene. "Mike, right?"

"Yeah," he said cautiously.

"Do you -?" I was cut off by a whistle being blown, announcing the arrival of the coach. Bella and I hurried over to the coach. We were apparently playing volleyball. Bella looked horrified, but the coach told her she didn't have to play if she didn't want to. Which, she didn't. I, on the other hand, had a blast. I'd played volleyball a little in middle school and had always had a blast. The coach apparently noticed my enthusiasm.

"Trent," she called out to me. I trotted over as she looked at her clipboard. "Do you play any sports Trent?"

"Well, at my old school I played lacrosse and a little volleyball."

"Great! We have a good girls team here. I'm the lacrosse coach and I'd like to talk to you about trying out for our varsity team."

"Okay, cool, thanks." As I walked over to Bella, who was grappling with gravity again, I smiled to myself. Maybe Forks wasn't too bad after all.

I said goodbye to Bella as I walked into the parking lot. Jack was already waiting for me by his new BMW.

"So, is Forks really that intolerable?" Jack asked, a knowing smile on his face.

"No, it's not too horrible."

"Good, I'm glad. I think it's great." He rubbed his hands together. "Geeze it's cold. Do you think it'll snow soon?"

"I hope so, it's not winter without snow. Hey, so who were all your friends?"

He waved me into the car. "Oh, them. Those were just the football and baseball teams. They're all really great guys. Definitely people who I could see myself getting along with."

I knew it. Only my brother could manage to ingratiate himself to the popular group of seniors who'd known each other since birth in only a few hours. "I met some cool people. There's this other new girl, Bella Swan. She's really klutzy, but she's really nice too."

"You met Isabella Swan?" Jack stopped at the stoplight and looked at me incredulously.

"Yes, why are you looking at me like that?"

"She's just pretty that's all. A lot of the guys were talking about her."

"Well, I don't know about your chances with her. I may have to warn her about you and your wily ways."

"I don't want to date her. Not while I'm still going out with Christine." Ah yes, Christine. Jack, why did you have to bring up that harpy?

"Oh Jack. Why'd you have to bring up Christine? New town, new girlfriend?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I know you don't like her Sara, but she's really nice, once you get to know her."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. Right, Jack. I always define nice as cheating on my nice caring boyfriend with most of the basketball team. Especially when I know that my boyfriend's little sister is at the same party. "I'm sure she's great Jack. I guess I'm just being overprotective of my big brother."

The next day Jack parked next to a red BMW.

"Wow," he breathed. "Now there's a car I wouldn't mind having."

I just walked right past him and caught up with Bella. "Hey. Ready for our second day of school?'

"Oh, definitely." The sarcasm was apparent in her tone and I was happy to see that she wasn't all sweetness and sunshine.

"Well, I gotta go to class Bella, but come find me at lunch and we'll sit together."

"Okay," she brightened. "I'll talk to you then."

The morning passed by quickly again and I was eager to get to lunch so I could see Patrick again. Bella was already sitting at a table with a group of people. I recognized her lunch companion from the first day, her brunette friend and Mike. Ugh. I was about to go sit with them when Randy accosted me.

"Hey Sara, come sit with us."

"Um," I wanted to go sit by Bella, but than Cindy came up to me too.

"Hey Sara. Are you going to sit with all of us or what?"

"Um, yeah sure. Where are you all sitting?"

I found the Cullen table immediately but was surprised to see only the two couples. Neither Patrick nor Edward were at the table.

"Hey," I poked Cindy. "Where are Patrick and Edward Cullen?"

"They're probably camping. That whole family is really into nature." Cindy looked at me and than at the Cullen table. "Why? Do you like them?"

"No," I said defensively. "I just have to work with Patrick on a French project and I don't want to have to do all the work myself."

"Well, good luck with that project. Remember how I told you that none of the gorgeous guys at our school date?"

"Hey!" Randy said, offended. "Are you implying that I'm less than gorgeous?"

"You don't count, loser." Cindy waved a hand. "Anyways, Sara, Patrick and Edward Cullen don't date. They haven't even so much as looked at a girl their entire time in Forks."

I wanted to retort that they had been looking at both Bella and I, but I knew that anything I said at this point could and would be used against me in a court of high school society. "Well, I hope he comes back for camping soon. I need to get a good grade on that project."

Bella caught up with me at the end of lunch. "Hey, did you notice that Edward Cullen isn't here today?"

"Yeah, I noticed. Patrick isn't here either. Someone told me that they went camping."

"Did I tell you what happened yesterday after you left?" Bella seemed agitated.

"No, what happened?"

"Well, I went into the office to give something to Ms. Cope and Edward was there, right? He was trying to switch into a new period of Biology. When he noticed that I was there, though, he glared at me and told Ms. Cope never mind. I really don't think that he was having a bad day, I think he was trying to switch classes because of me."

"I'm sure that it's nothing so severe as that," I reassured her. "Maybe he already took Biology and he doesn't want to be in it."

She looked unconvinced. "Maybe. Oh, look there's Mike. Think he can make the whole Biology class without asking me out?"

"Doubtful." I snickered. "Has he already tried?"

"No, thank God. I heard from someone that there's a dance soon. I really don't want to go though."

"Why not?"

"Did you forget P.E. yesterday?"

"I see your point. Well, plenty of boys will be disappointed that you aren't going."

We said our goodbyes and I went into French. P.E. was much the same, except today Bella also played volleyball. Bella hit some girl in the head the one time she even touched the ball. Unfortunately, Mike took it upon himself to help Bella out. I could tell she was frustrated even when I wasn't looking at her.

The next day brought the same thing. I was eagerly anticipating not having to go to school for two days. Plus, Jack had agreed to take me shopping in Seattle as a thank you for being so good about Forks. Of course, Jack wasn't thankful about me being good, it was more my mom's assistant calling him and passing a message along from our mother.

I dragged Jack through downtown Seattle, much to his consternation. He was especially reluctant to keep shopping after I made him watch me try on dresses in Betsey Johnson.

"Remind me why we're here again?"

I poked my head out of the dressing room. "You promised Becky that you would take me shopping for being such a good little girl." I exited the dressing room in a deep blue dress and twirled around for effect. "What do you think?"

He coughed. "It makes you look like a hooker. I liked the red one better."

"See," I giggled. "You're getting better at this already. Just wait until we get to Queen Anne. I heard they have the best accessory places there."-----------------------------------------------------------

**Playlist:**

(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear – Blondie

So I'll Sit Here Waiting – The Like

La Foule – Edith Piaf

And She Said… - Lucas Prata

Can't Get It Out of My Head – John Paul White


	4. A Day in the Life

Just a little story that I found extremely amusing yesterday at school: The big drama was that _The O.C._ got canceled and Cameron and Justin broke up. So I'm in my AP History class and some kid goes Screw the Electoral College, let's talk about Seth and Summer's engagement. Here's chapter 3…

**Disclaimer:** Ed and the gang aren't mine. Neither is Bella.

**Chapter 3: A Day in the Life**

"I just stayed at my house the whole weekend, mostly just doing homework. What about you?" Randy kept twirling a fry in between his fingers as he turned towards my chair.

"Jack took me shopping for some clothes my mom thought I needed. Then I watched _The Virgin Suicides_ for like the eightieth time." I was over school. I was ready to go home and sit in my room for hours on end. I wanted to go back to New York.

"_The Virgin Suicides_?" Cindy wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Isn't that, like, depressing?"

"No." I was getting irritated. The snow had started falling this morning and I was trying not to get irritated, because I liked snow.

I looked around the cafeteria, glossing over all the other tables and letting my gaze focus on the usual table. I was prepared to look away because I figured that it would just be its usual four occupants. However, today was different. I noticed Edward first; he looked different, brighter almost. He was laughing with Emmett and Jasper as Emmett shook his hair at Alice and Rosalie. Patrick, on the other hand, was faced away from all of them, towards the wall. I stared at his back, willing him to turn my way.

"What are you doing Sara?" Cindy's voice interrupted my reverie.

"I-I was just daydreaming," I stammered, silently cursing Cindy and her questions. "Oh, look at that, those two Cullen kids are back."

"Oh," Randy said cuttingly. "Patrick was in math today, so one would assume he's back from camping."

"Yeah, guess so," I muttered distractedly. "Listen, I gotta go, talk to you all later."

I wandered outside of the cafeteria, letting the snow fall onto me. I could feel the wet snow drip down my cheeks as I twirled once or twice, laughing at the sheer giddiness I felt. I quickly forgot about Cindy and my irritation, trying to revel in the moment. The snow in New York had usually only been good for a day, but this snow was beautiful, untouched and pure.

"Hello," a quiet musical voice interrupted my twirling. I whirled around, coming face to face with Patrick.

"Hi."

"I'm guessing you like snow," he observed, tilting his head back to look at the sky.

"We get a lot of snow in New York, that's where I used to go to school."

"We also got a lot of snow in our old home." He shook his hair lightly, in the opposite direction of where I was.

"Where was that?"

"Alaska."

"Really? Wow, what's it like there? I've never been."

He seemed surprised that I was interested in where he had lived before Forks. "Well, it's not anything like New York City. It's beautiful in a quiet sort of way. But before you ask, no, we didn't live in igloos."

"I wasn't going to." I smiled at him and was rewarded by a small smile back.

"You should probably head to class," he commented. "It's about to start."

"What about you?" I was reluctant to leave the snow, but mostly reluctant to leave Patrick.

"I'll be there shortly, I just want to surprise Edward with a snowball." He waved goodbye and swiftly walked towards the cafeteria again.

I trudged over towards the building that our French class was in. I heard my name being called and I turned to see Bella behind me. I slowed down and waited for her to catch up with me.

"So," I started. "Did you see that your biggest fan was back in school?"

"Yeah." She looked worried. "You don't think he'll be mean again do you?"

"I'm sure not, he was probably just having a bad day. We all have those once in a while."

She smiled tentatively, "You're right, see you in gym."

I walked into the French classroom and headed to my seat. Patrick was already waiting for class to start when I had entered the room. He didn't look at me the whole period, even though he finished his work before everyone else. I snuck glances at him after I'd finished, trying to see if I could will him to look at me. He looked distracted and he drummed his pale fingers lightly on his desk. My efforts seemed to be in vain, because as soon as class ended he stood up and strode out of the classroom. I walked quickly to see where he was going in such a hurry. Edward Cullen exited the Biology classroom and turned left down the hall. I followed his path and noticed Patrick waiting anxiously at the far end of the hall. They turned the corner together as Edward shot a glance back towards Biology, as Bella walked through the exit.

I noticed she wasn't carrying any books, but Mike Newton seemed to be carrying them as he walked through the door.

"That was awful," I heard him whine. "They all looked exactly the same. You're so lucky you had Cullen for a partner."

"I didn't have any trouble with it." Bella commented. Mike looked crestfallen and Bella quickly backtracked. "I've done the lab before, though."

"Hey," I walked up to Bella. "So, how was Biology?"

"It was fine." Mike said shortly. "How was your sophomore class?"

I shot him a withering stare. "It was fine."

We arrived quickly at the locker rooms and said goodbye to Mike who slowly walked into the boy's locker room, but not before casting a lingering glance at Bella when her back was turned. I turned my laugh into a cough. The boy was pathetic.

After volleyball, Bella and I walked to the parking lot.

"He talked to me," she said quietly. "He was nice and attentive and the complete opposite of how he was last Monday."

"I'm glad." I looked up at the sky, noticing that rain was starting to fall. "Looks like we won't be getting any more snow today."

"Thank God," Bella sighed in relief. "I don't like the snow, or the cold really."

We had reached my car, where Jack was waiting impatiently for me. He smiled at Bella as she walked by, but she didn't notice. A few moments later we heard a loud engine roar as Bella started her car. I giggled into my hand until I noticed Edward Cullen. He was watching Bella's truck intently. I stopped, suddenly solemn, as he seemed to be laughing quietly to himself. As we got ready to leave, I kept my eyes on the silver Volvo, as the rest of his family, other than Patrick, got into the car with him. I looked for Patrick and noticed him getting into a small green BMW.

"Nice," Jack commented as he followed my gaze. "That's the M5 I keep pestering Dad to get me for graduation. I wonder why a sophomore is driving it."

"Plenty of sophomores have their licenses. I'm getting mine in March. He's probably old for our grade."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Probably," I agreed cheerfully. I looked into the side mirror. A black Honda was following us closely. "Hey, Jack? Notice that car? I think it's following us."

His eyes flashed up to the rearview mirror, following the car's movements for the next couple minutes as we drove home. "I think you're right."

"What should we do?"

"Grab my phone and call Dad. He'll know what to do."

I did as I was told and waited for our dad to pick up the phone.

"Jack! Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?" Our father's voice boomed through the cell phone's tiny speaker.

"Dad, it's Sara. There's a car that's been following us for the past ten minutes. What should we do?"

"Are you sure" Dad's voice turned serious and I could picture him leaning forward in his chair, his face furrowing in concentration. "Keep driving home, try and lose him by going the back way."

I relayed this information to Jack, who immediately turned around, heading back towards where we'd came. The car disappeared and as we pulled up behind our house, we sighed in unison.

"That was close," Jack murmured as he locked the car.

"Definitely. I'm glad we lost him"

A man jumped out from behind a bush. Jack jumped in front of me as a flashbulb went off.

"Sara and Jack Trent! Is your mother here?" The man called as Jack pushed me towards the house.

"Go away!" Jack yelled. "We don't need your kind here."

We hurried into the house and Jack slammed the door shut. He sank down to the floor and leaned his head against the door. "Oh shit. Dad's gonna kill me."

Oh shit was right. I had a feeling that the threat of murder from Dad was going to be the least of our problems in the next couple days that followed.

**Playlist:**

A Day in the Life – The Beatles

Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O'Sullivan

Magic Man – Heart

Playground Love – Air

Sleepwalking (couples only dance on prom night) – Modest Mouse

Teach Your Children – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (this song always reminds me of the office. Did anyone see the new episode?)


	5. Don't Stand so Close to Me

_So this chapter is kind of heavy on the dialogue, but it was kind of necessary. I'm glad people like the rewritten version so far. Oh and I have no idea how the public school system works, so if they start earlier than 8:00 I'm sorry. Private school is strange and has weird scheduling issues. _

**Disclaimer:** I only own Patrick, Sara and Jack. Carlisle, Bella and Edward are Stephenie Meyer's creations.

**Chapter 4: Don't Stand So Close To Me**

I woke up to an incessant pounding on my door. I could vaguely make out my name between poundings. Whoever it was obviously got tired of no response from my room and the door burst open.

"Sara," Jack complained. "It's time for school, we're late. It's 8:00 and I've already let you sleep in. You need to get ready."

I lifted my head off of the pillow. "Are you sure you're reading the clock right?" I asked groggily.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now get up." I was now dealing with exasperated Jack Trent. The covers were ripped off the bed and I curled into a ball.

I slowly got ready, looking out my window. The rain had frozen the snow during the night. I was glad that Jack had driven in cold weather before, because I knew that winter was a dangerous time to be driving. Or at least, that's what the statistics on television had said last night. I wasn't quite sure what it had said actually. I had just sort of stared blankly at the television. Jack had tried to comfort me; he even pulled out all of my favorite movies. He willingly sat through _Mean Girls_, _Breakfast At Tifffany's_ and Season 1 of _Alias_. Though I suspect that he wasn't too heartbroken over _Alias_, because when we met Jennifer Garner at the Golden Globes he'd fallen all over himself.

I padded down the stairs, yawning as I pulled my hair into a ponytail. I grabbed a banana and waited for Jack to realize that I was downstairs already. He came tearing down the stairs a few seconds later. He looked upset.

"Sara," he began. "I don't know how to tell you this, but there's been an accident at school."

"What do you mean?" I demanded, my mind going through a million scenarios in an instant.

"Apparently, this morning Bella was at the back of her truck and a car spun out of control and it – "

"Wait! Bella's dead?" I felt like crying. My first friend in Forks and she was dead.

"No, no not at all. The opposite. She's going to be fine, it's just that I don't know if we should go to school today. We can just go to the hospital and see if she's still there."

"Hurry then, I want to see her. What stupid jerk almost hit her?"

"Some kid named Tyler, he's a junior. Oh, and get this. The kid who saved her? Guess who it was."

"Spare me the theatrics Jack." I grumbled.

"It was Edward Cullen. According to Jim Easton, he appeared out of nowhere and just got her out of the way."

"No!" I gasped. "But, Edward hates Bella. Why would he save her?"

"Sara," Jack admonished me. "Just because you hate someone doesn't mean you just stand idly by as they almost get hit by a car. Right?"

"No, I guess not." I didn't add that I totally would have if it had been Mike Newton. I hated that kid, even though I hadn't spoken more than a few sentences to him. I guess I had met enough guys like him throughout my life. He was hungry, and not for food either.

We pulled up the hospital and I leaped out of the car, running as fast as possible in order to reach the hospital entrance as quickly as I could. The entrance was packed with teenagers, mostly juniors, but I recognized a few people from my own grade. Jack strolled in leisurely and bumped fists with a couple of kids in lettermen's jackets.

"Jack," I tugged on his sleeve. "Jack, get us in to see her."

"Who's this man?" A tall skinny kid peered down at me.

"You wish, Matt. It's my sister, Sara." He returned his attention to me. "It's not like I can just snap my fingers and get us into the room Sara. Nobody can."

Someone behind us cleared his throat. "Actually, I can. Snap my fingers and get her into the room." Patrick Cullen stepped into my line of vision.

"Hi," I whispered.

"Hello Sara." He turned towards Jack and smiled agreeably. "Hello, you must be Sara's older brother, Jack. I believe you play baseball. The coach mentioned that you were on your way to Yale for baseball."

"Yeah. Can you really get Sara into the room?"

"Of course, it's all about who you know." He chuckled to himself and offered me his arm. "Shall we?"

I looked at Jack, who shrugged, and I took Patrick's arm. He led me past the receptionist's desk, smiling at the nurses behind it, and into the emergency area.

"Oh no," I heard Bella complain.

I quickened my pace as a man asked Bella whether or not she wanted to stay. Patrick kept up with me and drew back the curtain as I reached Bella's bed.

I was greeted with a comical sight. Bella's hands were covering her face as Edward was standing quietly behind the doctor in the corner.

"Patrick?" The doctor had seen my companion. "Who is this?"

"Hi," I stuck out my hand. "I'm Sara Trent, I'm a friend of Bella's.

"Dr. Carlisle Cullen. This is my son, Edward, and obviously you've met Patrick."

Edward looked at me and than at Patrick, than at me again. "Patrick, I think we need to talk."

He strode out of the room. I looked at Patrick, but he was already gone, following Edward so that they could talk. Whatever.

"So," I moved on. "Bella, how's your, um, what did you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt, just a little bruised. Edward made sure that I got to ride in the back of the ambulance, complete with neck brace." Her facial expression was priceless, a perfect mixture of frustration and peevishness. "Thanks for coming though, I appreciate your concern. My dad is probably worried enough for the both of us."

"Yeah," I gestured to the general direction behind me. "I should probably go find Jack anyways." I waved and spun back around to where I'd came, following what the path that I was pretty sure I'd seen Patrick go.

I wandered the halls of the hospital for a few minutes, not noticing exactly where I was going. I rummaged around in my purse for my iPod and put it on shuffle before I finally looked up at my surroundings. I was in a pale green corridor, with almost nobody around me, I looked for nurses to ask them for help, but I couldn't find anyone.

"Hello?" I called softly. "Is anyone here?"

"Hello." I whipped around. A clean-shaven man with tidy black hair was standing extremely close to me.

"Are you lost?" He calmly inquired.

I nodded, completely creeped out by this guy, but still wanting to know where I was.

He smiled so wide that I could have sworn his face was going to split into two. "Good."

He reached out towards me, but I shrank back, truly frightened. He frowned slightly and grabbed my shoulder, hard, yanking me back to him.

"Stay still," he hissed, his words curling around my brain. He wrapped his arm around my neck. "This won't hurt. Much."

I opened my mouth to scream, but before I could breathe a blur went past my peripheral vision. I was suddenly knocked back and then I felt my head crack against the cool floor, as I slowly faded into a black void.

"Sara." A gorgeous voice was calling to me, but I couldn't figure out which way it was coming from. "Sara." The voice, whoever it was, sounded worried.

I blinked, a hazy mix of lights blurring together in a random pattern. I squinted, trying to focus on the blurry figure that seemed to be right in front of me. My head was cold, propped up against something hard.

"Sara?" The voice sounded familiar, I tried to place it. "Sara, it's me, Patrick."

"Patrick?" I was confused, I didn't know anyone named Patrick. Then my memories came back, slamming me back into disorientation as the past couple weeks seeped into my consciousness. "Where are we?"

"Forks, Washington. But to be more specific, we're sitting on the floor of the Pysch ward in the hospital."

"My head hurts." I complained. "Who was that guy?"

"He won't be bothering you anymore." The blob, which was getting clearer, stood up and moved away from me.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back."

"No," I begged. "Please, don't leave me."

He sighed. "Alright then, come with me. How is your eyesight?"

"It's fine. How long have I been here?"

"Only a few minutes. Come on." He bent down towards me and picked me up, cradling me to his chest.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, not wanting to let on how much I was enjoying this.

"You don't really expect me to make you walk after you've been knocked unconscious, do you?" He peered down at me.

"Yes, well," I spluttered. "I'm really heavy, you shouldn't be able to carry me."

"You're what? 115 pounds?" He was trying to hold back laughter now.

"117." I informed him loftily.

"Ah here we are." We had apparently reached the elevator. He pushed the button and deposited me in a chair next to the elevator. "Thank god for chairs. You were getting extremely heavy."

"117 is not heavy!" I exclaimed. I looked up to see him grinning and I shot him a glare back. "You're not nice."

"On the contrary," he grinned wider, his teeth glinting. "I'm very nice. Oh look, the elevator."

"I don't know if I like this whole carrying thing. It's like a step back in feminism." I complained to Patrick's chest.

"Nonsense. Feminism is completely different from this. This is merely a boy helping a girl."

"Boys never help girls unless they want something. So, what do you want?"

He laughed. "You make no sense."

"Some people would say that's part of my charm."

"I don't know if I would put that into the charm category…" He trailed off as the elevator doors opened.

Bella and Edward were standing in the hallway, and at first glance it would look like they were merely talking. I suspected that this wasn't pleasantries they were exchanging.

"Why does your brother hate Bella so much?"

"Edward doesn't hate Bella," he contradicted. "Hate is a pretty strong word."

"What word would you rather I use? Extreme distaste?"

"Edward doesn't hate her, let's just leave it at that. Okay?" He had already put me back on my feet, and I made my way to the chair.

He glanced at me. "You aren't mad at me are you?"

"No." I huffed. "More frustrated, at myself though. I've just been attacked by some random guy in a Pysch ward and I'm not asking you how you found me, or why I don't need to worry about him bothering me anymore. I'm asking you why your stupid brother hates Bella and then I get frustrated when you give me some cryptic response."

He bent down to my eyelevel. "Don't be frustrated, at yourself or anyone else. You just haven't processed what's happened yet. As for how I found you. I was delivering something for Carlisle and I saw you on the floor of the Pysch ward. I have no idea who that guy was, but I don't think he's a threat to you anymore."

I wanted to press him for more questions but he looked so innocent that I didn't want him to get angry with me for doubting him. I'd been lied to in my life but for once I wanted to believe this beautiful boy. After all, I'd always wanted a knight in shining armor.

"Sara! There you are." Jack was hurrying down the hallway. "I've been looking for you for ten minutes. Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry." Patrick stood up and turned away from me. "Sara got a little turned around when she was looking for the bathroom."

"Oh," Jack sighed and pulled me off to the side. "Sara, Mom just called me, she wants us to go to dinner with some people from her work."

"Okay," I looked back at Patrick, who was trying to look extremely interested in the wall. "Just hang on a minute, okay? I'll meet you in the parking lot."

"Yeah, sure." He walked away, whistling, without a second glance at Patrick or me.

"You can stop pretending you aren't interested Patrick. He's gone."

"I'm not interested in what your brother has to say to you, not at all." He smirked and looked back towards the wall, gesturing towards it with his hand. "Besides, haven't you heard? White on White is the new black. Or was it pink? I can't keep track of all the fashion tips I hear."

"I thought orange was the new pink. White on White is definitely the new black."

"You're probably right." He agreed cheerfully. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow? In French?"

"Yeah, see you then," I muttered. He smiled at me and started to walk away. I opened my mouth to say something and paused.

"Hey Patrick?" He stopped mid step and looked back at me, a question in his eyes. I walked towards him, purposefully. If I didn't do it now, I would never get the courage back. I was right next to him now. I wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you for finding me."

I released him and stood on my tiptoes, kissing him on the cheek.

"What did you do that for?" He looked puzzled.

I shrugged. "Thanks, I guess." I turned to walk away and had barely taken a step, when a pale arm grabbed mine.

"You're welcome." Then he leaned towards me and pressed his lips against mine. I pulled him down towards me and we stood there in the hallway, blissfully uninterrupted, just kissing.

He broke it off suddenly. "I-I should go." He turned quickly and walked off before I could say a word.

I stood there in shock for a minute, the whole hallway defeaned. Slowly sounds filtered back into my consciousness. I grinned, a big fat grin that threatened to split my face into two.

Huh. Maybe Forks was better than New York after all.

Playlist:

Don't Stand so Close to me – The Police

Unsatisfied – Nine Black Alps

Wind it up, The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani

Say you'll be there – Spice Girls

Dancing with myself, I melt with you – Nouvelle Vague

Tiger, my friend – Psapp


	6. Playground Love

Hokay. So here is chapter 5. It's full of fluffy goodness and banter which are my two favorite things in the world. Yay! Oh, and pictures of most of the characters are posted on my profile. And some who haven't been introduced yet.

And I promise that I'll try to update one of the 5 things fics I've been working on. Honestly the Mike Newton one could possibly be only one because anything else I do might turn out to be total crap.

**Disclaimer:** Like, oh my gawd, I so don't own anything Twilight.

**Chapter 5: Playground Love**

"_and nothing can compare, to when you roll the dice and swear your love's for me."_

_--_ Finley Quaye "Dice"

The next day at school was interesting to say the least. I was eager to get to school, if only to be able to see Patrick. Jack had complained that I'd taken forever to get to the parking lot, but I'd retorted that he was just getting old and that I'd wanted to say goodbye to Bella. No reason to give Jack any reason to get mad and stop giving me a ride to school. There's nothing an older brother wants to hear more than the fact that you were kissing a hot mysterious boy in the middle of a hospital hallway.

The morning classes dragged on, and more than ever I wanted to kill Cindy so that she would just shut up. I hoped to God that no one had ever found me that annoying. Fourth period found me jiggling my foot up and down, much to the consternation of the person who sat in front of me. Fourth period usually wasn't that bad, since it was Art History and I liked art.

Bella was waiting at the entrance of the cafeteria, obviously agitated.

"Hey Bella. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine. People have been asking me all day to tell them about yesterday. I didn't do anything though. It was all Edward. He saved my life."

"Bella!" A short girl intercepted Bella and steered her towards their table. Bella looks over her shoulder and waves goodbye as I make my way towards the table where I know Randy will be discussing the upcoming Gonzaga game. He had already told me at least six times in the past week that Adam Morrison was his favorite player. I hadn't the heart to tell him that I had no idea who that was. After all, our family was more of a baseball-oriented group, especially with Jack going to Yale.

I plopped down into the seat next to Cindy and across from Randy. Randy was, as I had predicted, discussing the relative merits of Adam Morrison and the Duke junior J.J. Reddick. Apparently they were two of the stronger players in a Fantasy basketball tournament that Randy had going with his brother.

"Sara." Cindy leaned over my tray. "I saw you go out of the waiting room with Patrick Cullen. What happened?"

"Nothing happened. He knew I was friends with Bella and Dr. Cullen was the physician on duty; so he got me into see her. I didn't even see you at the hospital though, so how do you know?"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Oh please, anything having to do with the Cullens and someone who isn't already in the family is a big deal here."

"I see." I stifled a laugh and went back to my food. I glanced surreptitiously through my eyelashes in the general direction of the Cullen's table. The whole family was there, silent as always and still facing in the different directions. I would just wait for Patrick to talk to me. No need to have anyone suspect that anything was going on. I could only imagine how Cindy would take advantage of the situation. She'd probably take credit for setting the two of us up.

I said goodbye to the table and wandered over to where Jack was. He was sitting with all of his friends, but there was an empty seat next to him. I sat down and waited for him to notice me.

"Tired of your friends already?" Jack asked knowingly.

"They're so sophomoric." I glanced back at the table I'd just left. Randy was attempting to catch a French fry in his mouth. For a kid in mostly advanced classes Randy was not up for scintillating conversation at the lunch table, not when he could act like a five year old.

Jack cleared his throat. "Yes, well, when you're a sophomore you run the risk of being sophomoric."

I glared at him. "I figured you would be more interesting. So I'm sitting here for the rest of lunch and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it."

"Fine," Jack sighed. He turned back to his friends. "So, what were we talking about?"

I listened to his friends chat about Winter League, the upcoming basketball game this Friday and the relief of being done with college applications. I figured Jack wouldn't appreciate me talking anymore than I had to, so I basically kept my mouth shut, eagerly anticipating French class.

I practically sprinted towards the building when lunch was over. I slowed down as I entered the building, trying to seem casual. After all, what good would it do me if Patrick saw how desperate I was. Definitely not how I wanted the situation to end up.

The floor was wet right at the entrance of the door and I tripped a little, having to catch myself in the air so I didn't fall flat on my face. I stood up and smoothed down my shirt, taking care to flatten out any wrinkles. I kept walking slowly down the hallway, eyes down at my shoes, as I tried to recall the French vocabulary we had to memorize for today's quiz.

"You seem pre-occupied this afternoon."

"Huh?" I glanced up from my shoes, confused. There was nobody in front of me so I went back to looking at my shoes.

"You seem to be intently gazing at your shoes. So either your shoes are particularly engrossing or you have something on your mind." I turned around already knowing it was Patrick.

"Hi," I breathed. "How was your morning?"

"Oh, you know." He shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes. No I didn't know.

"Sorry," I said lightly. "I'm afraid I'm completely ignorant as to how your mornings are. Traditionally, when a boy helps a girl he tells her how his morning went the next day."

I turned away from him to wait for the teacher to open the door. I tapped my foot impatiently, hoping he noticed that I wasn't talking to him anymore.

"Traditionally?" He chuckled softly in my ear, his breath on the back of my neck. Goosebumps erupted on my skin immediately as I fought the urge to not turn around. "Sara, you're the last girl I expected to be concerned with tradition."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. "Are you implying something?"

"Hardly." I could hear the smile in his voice and I was dying to turn around, to be able to see his facial expression. "Just that you don't seem too concerned with what other people think of you."

I didn't want to correct him, to let him know that usually I didn't care what people thought. Usually, meaning all the time. Except when he was around, then I cared. I cared way too much, even though I'd only known this kid for a few days. Shit. I was falling hard.

"We should probably go into the room now." He walked past me without a backwards glance. I stood there in a stupor, unnaturally still, in a daze at my realization.

"Mademoiselle Trent?" I jumped a foot in the air. Madame Dufour was staring at me expectantly through her glasses. I'm sure I looked completely stupid, just standing there in the hallway, amid a sea of people.

I looked around, and to my surprise nobody was there. I was the only person in the hallway and now I was positive I looked like an idiot to Madame Dufour. I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Madame. Won't happen again, I promise."

She narrowed her gaze. "I should hope so. Now, allez allez, we have a quiz to take."

I hurried into the room under her watchful gaze and tried to slip unnoticed into my seat. Patrick was watching me, a smirk on his face as I almost dropped my books in an effort to be quiet.

"Well," he murmured almost soundlessly. "If I have that much of an effect on you after a few sentences, I don't know if I want to know how you were last night."

"Oh please." I whispered back. "You wish you were that good."

He smiled enigmatically. "Apparently I am that good. You're just in denial. You should be careful, I've been known to get girls in trouble."

"Haven't you heard?" I leaned in playfully. "Trouble is my middle name and you wouldn't be the first boy I've gotten into trouble with."

He grinned at me and started writing on his test. I did the same and we both worked silently. I quickly breezed through it, thanks to the studying I'd done the night before. We were free to leave when we were finished and I said a quick goodbye to Madame before I exited the room.

I was walking towards the building exit when Patrick caught up to me.

"So," he asked. "Feel like getting into trouble?"

"Ha ha," I commented dryly. "I would, but I have this pesky thing called gym next period."

"So skip," he suggested. "If trouble was really your middle name you wouldn't be opposed to ditching. In fact, I would think you would be all in favor of ditching."

"Well…"

"Please?" He stepped closer to me, his eyes boring into mine. "It'll be fun, I swear."

"Fine, as long as I get to pick the music."

"Done," he opened the door and gestured outside. "After you, if you please."

We wandered towards the parking lot, occasionally bumping hips. I would blush everytime it happened and hope to God he wouldn't notice. If he did he didn't say anything and that just put me that much farther into like with him. He finally stopped in front of his green BMW and pulled the keys out of his pocket. He quietly opened the passenger door and held my backpack for me as I got in. He closed the door and put our bags in the trunk before getting in and starting the car.

"So," he faced me. "Where do we want to go?"

"Anywhere but here."

"Done." He drove the car out of the parking lot and sped down the main street. "How does Seattle sound?"

"Seattle? That sounds kind of far, it took Jack a while to get there."

Patrick laughed. "No offense to your brother, but I can get us there much faster. Let me call Carlisle and tell him."

He dialed a number on his cell phone and waited silently as the phone rang.

"Carlisle, it's Patrick," he spoke softly into the phone after a moment. "I have to go to Seattle for a while."

"No, I'm not hungry, I had a big lunch." He glanced over at me and held a finger up to his lips. He wanted me to be quiet for a minute. I rested my chin on the door, my nose pressed to the window. The green was whipping past at an alarming rate and I followed it with my eyes.

"All right, I'll talk to you later. If Edward asks I had to go get Alice an early birthday present. No funny business." He clicked the phone shut, turning towards me.

"We're about an hour away from Seattle. Is there anything you wanted to discuss?"

"Yeah." I said noncommittally. Duh, I wanted to talk about the kiss.

"What's your favorite color?" Patrick asked before I could say anything more. "What's your favorite band? Movie? Book? Which parent do you like more?"

"Wait. When did this turn into 20 Questions? I thought you wanted to discuss things."

Patrick shrugged. "I'd much rather talk about favorite things. We can discuss things later, in Seattle over coffee. Coffee always makes things more somber, especially on a day like today."

"Okay," I said slowly. I tried to think back to what he'd just asked me. Favorite color. Right.

"My favorite color is grey, or green." I began. His eyes met mine and he smiled, silently encouraging me. "My favorite band changes every other day, but right now it's The Beatles. Tomorrow it could be Death Cab for Cutie though. My favorite old movie is _Breakfast at Tiffany's _and my current favorite new movie is _Underworld_. My favorite –"

"Wait! Your favorite movie is _Underworld_?" Patrick asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Yes," I said defensively. "Scott Speedman is totally hot in real life. Plus vampires are totally cool and usually they're so misunderstand in the movies. Kate Beckinsale is totally the kind of vampire I would want to be."

Patrick coughed. "You like vampires?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" I could feel all the warm fuzzies start to fade, his tone definitely left something to be desired.

"No," he said, his voice strangled. His hand snaked out and went on top of mine. "There's nothing wrong with that at all. I, myself, was always partial to the werewolf's side of the story."

"Oh, you're so going down for that remark." I prepared myself for an argument when I noticed how cold my hand was. I twisted my hand and interlaced our fingers. "Your hand is really cold."

He glanced down at our intertwined hands. "I get cold really easily. I guess my hands and feet get colder than the rest of me. Once you get used to it, it's not so bad."

I got the feeling he didn't really want to talk about it so I changed the subject. "My favorite book is _Paradise Lost_, so I guess it's more of a poem, and I also really liked _East of Eden_."

"You just like talking about yourself," he teased, a smile playing across his lips.

I pouted before smiling back. "Well, you asked and you shall receive."

"I guess I was mistaken to open this can of worms then. I'm bereft of being able to change my mind. Go ahead, continue with your monologue."

"No, that was the end of your questions. Now I get to ask mine. What's your favorite movie?"

"_The Good, The Bad & The Ugly_."

"Really?" I wrinkled my nose. "Clint Eastwood? I would have pegged you for the George Lucas type?"

"_Star Wars_?" He scoffed. "Oh, please. The new ones are absolutely terrible. Clint is at least consistent. Oh look, we're here already."

I looked outside, and sure enough, we were already in Seattle. The city looked almost exactly the same as when I had last been here, with Jack. That felt like ages ago, when in reality it had been less than a week before.

We found a place to park and we started walking down the street. I was glad I had thought to bring a coat, because it was still chilly outside, even with the sun dimly shining above us. I grabbed his hand and twined our fingers together again. He smiled down at me and squeezed my hand.

We made our way towards the harbor, where the ferry boats were. He knew exactly where we were going and eagerly pulled me behind him. We piled into the boat and he found us a little corner on the outside of the boat. It was a little bench facing outwards. He sat down and pulled me down with him. We sat silently for a few minutes, taking in the sight of the city.

"This is nice," he murmured. "I've never really felt like this before."

I leaned against him. "What do you mean?"

He sighed and looked up at the sky. "I've been in relationships before and they've always been sort of physical, but I've never felt like emotionally I've liked someone. It's always been about looks."

I stiffened. "So I'm not pretty."

"No, not at all." He reassured me, placing his chin on top of my hair. "I think you're absolutely beautiful, and so does everyone else. I'm just saying that I didn't really ever bother to look deeper than the physical beauty of other girls. But you're beautiful both inside and out."

"You barely know me," I pointed out. "How do you know about the inside of me."

"I just do." His simple response made me smile. I was starting to think that maybe he really was perfect, just like he seemed to think I was.

I turned my face towards his and smiled. "You know just what to say to make a girl blush."

He laughed and kissed me lightly. "Or maybe you just like to blush."

"Not normally. But then again, you're not really a normal boy."

"Oh?" He looked confused.

"You're practically perfect in every way."

"Well," he smirked. "I don't like to brag, but we perfect men like to keep ourselves hidden away for perfect girls."

"Then it's a good thing I came along."

"Yes," he sighed, pulling me into him. "Thank God you came along."

**Playlist**

Playground Love – Air

Good Times Gonna Come – Aqualung

Heartstopper – Emiliana Torrini

On your porch (acoustic version) – The Format

If I fell – The Beatles

Dice – Finley Quaye


	7. Perfect Day

**Chapter 5: Perfect Day**

"So, does this mean we're dating now?" I asked as I moved onto Patrick's lap, burrowing myself in his chest.

"Dating?" He feigned confusion, eliciting a shove from me before I kissed him.

"Yes, dating. It's what boys and girls do these days, or so I've heard." I giggled. "Maybe one day you'll even get to meet my family."

"I can only imagine what sort of people produced you and your brother." He wrapped his arms around me and sighed. "You probably would have liked my parents."

The mood turned serious. I approached with caution. "What happened to your parents?"

His face was pensive. "When I was 12 they got into a car accident. My parents didn't work that much, mainly we just traveled around the world. We were in London for a while and they were at the opera. The accident wasn't their fault. They were minding their own business when some reckless driver hit them full on. Carlisle was a family friend and he and Esme offered to adopt me. They've been very good to me, but sometimes I miss my parents."

"I'm sorry."

He smiled wistfully down at me. "It's in the past and I'm happy where I am right now. After all, I wouldn't have met you if I was still traveling around the world."

"My mom travels a lot, but it's for her work. She doesn't really know that much about me, or Jack for that matter."

His hand found mine and I played with his hand, tracing random designs. He cleared his throat. "What does your mother do?"

I laughed ruefully. "She's an actress and you've probably seen a few of her movies. Her name's Analise Trent."

"Ah, yes. That explains where I've seen you before then."

"What do you mean?"

"Alice reads a lot of celebrity magazines and I recognize you from a few of them. I guess I didn't put two and two together." He pulled away and looked me in the eye. "Is that weird for you?"

"No," I murmured. "It's actually kind of funny, if you think about it. I don't think many guys would admit that they've perused their sister's magazines."

"You're right, I don't think many guys would admit that." He laughed quietly. "So, what's it like having a celebrity for a mom?"

"Weird. When she's at home she's always constantly on the phone with her random people. Plus, since she's at home you always run the risk of getting photographed. I hate it. I hate her and her need for constant perfection." I was starting to cry and I tried to swipe away the tears before Patrick saw them.

"Hey, it's okay," Patrick whispered. "Don't cry, I don't want to see you sad."

I smiled through the tears as he kissed me again. I pressed myself against him in desperation, but he pushed me away lightly.

"What's wrong?" I demanded.

"Nothing's wrong. I just want to take things slow, is that okay?" He smiled tentatively, waiting for my response.

"Yeah, that's fine. We can take things slow. Just don't come begging me to go faster in two weeks," I warned him as he laughed. "You laugh now, but you wait, Mr. I've only been in physical relationships before this."

"I think you underestimate my restraint," Patrick chuckled.

"Teenage boys have restraint?"

"You have no idea," Patrick said darkly. He brightened and hugged me to him. "Come on, let's get you some dinner."

Since Patrick wasn't that hungry I had a light dinner and we made our way back to where we'd parked the car. We didn't really talk that much until we were almost to my house.

"So, are you and Edward the closest out of your whole family?"

"Yeah, probably. He's the closest thing to a best friend I've got, even though he thinks I make stupid decisions."

"Like what?"

"Oh, just reckless stuff, stuff that Edward would never do. Edward's a pretty conservative guy. He doesn't really date and he usually keeps to himself."

"So," I ventured. "Does Edward know that you like me?"

"No. Nobody in my family does."

"Why not?" I asked indignantly. "Don't I deserve mentioning in your best friend conversations?"

Patrick looked uneasy. "The Cullens are pretty private people and I'm not sure how to approach dating someone with them. It's probably best that we stay quiet about this at school. Clandestine meetings and such are going to be pretty useful in the next few weeks."

"Secrets are kind of hot," I grinned wickedly.

Patrick's eyes glinted with mirth. "I always thought so."

He turned his eyes back to the road. "Now, which house is yours?"

We came to a stop outside our garage and from where we were standing you couldn't really see either of us from any of the windows in the house.

"So, Sara," Patrick whispered in my ear. "Is this how you were expecting your day to go."

I smirked up at him. "Not at all, and you know it. You're lucky I'm such a good sport Patrick Cullen. Most girls would have just assumed we were dating."

"You didn't?" He tried to hide his laughter as he played with the ends of my hair.

"Well, I thought that maybe we were going to be dating later that day. There's a difference. In fact, if you hadn't talked to me before the end of lunch I was going to drag you into a closet and have my way with you. Then, naturally, we would be dating."

He laughed loudly. "I knew I should have resisted talking to you at lunch. It's all your fault, you're absolutely tempting."

I wrinkled my nose at him. "Jack's probably worried about me. I should go inside soon."

He took a step towards me so that I was forced to look straight up into his eyes. "Do you have to go?"

"What do you suggest? You come into my room with me?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"I thought you wanted to take things slow. Last time I checked girls who sneak boys into their rooms aren't taking things slow."

"We're only taking things slow on alternating days that end with the letter 'y'," Patrick loftily informed me. "And I thought I was the one who wanted to take things slow. This is exactly the right pace for me."

He pulled on my hand and slowly crept past the window. "Now which room is yours? I have to know where I'm supposed to get my inner cat burglar on."

I rolled my eyes and pointed out which window was mine. "You better hide your car. My dad's totally gonna notice in the morning that some random BMW is parked outside our house. Especially one as nice as yours."

Patrick rubbed his hands together and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "All in good time my dear, all in good time."

I kissed him and started to walk away.

"Good night," I said pointedly.

He laughed, his teeth shining in the dark. He pulled me back towards him and kissed my forehead. "See you in a little while."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled. "Just go move your car."

I waltzed into the house, a fat smile on my face. I floated up the stairs and barely knocked on Jack's door before stumbling into the doorway.

"Where were you after school today?" Jack demanded. "I tried to look for you, but some girl named Cindy mentioned that you had said something about the library for a school project, so I figured you were fine. Would it kill you to call?"

"Hi Jack, nice to see you too. Hope you had a great day. You're such a good big brother. See you in the morning." I closed the door on my way out and kept floating towards my room.

I opened and closed the door, throwing the bag on the floor and making my way towards the window, opening it for Patrick. I sighed and spun around once in glee. I turned on my iPod stereo and set it the mix I usually had before I went to bed.

"Hello again."

"Hi!" I spun around and into Patrick's arms. "I missed you. How did you get here so fast?"

He shrugged. "I'm a good climber."

"Hmmm," I muttered. "I'll bet you are."

"Come on," he tugged my hand. "Let's get you ready for bed. Where are your clothes?"

I showed him the pajama drawer and he covered my eyes as he picked something out. He moved his hand and held up his choice. I rolled my eyes. Of course he had picked the joke lingerie that my friends had gotten me for my 15th birthday.

"Let's wait until we've been dating for more than a couple hours before we pull out the La Perla. Okay?"

He pouted. "Fine, I guess you can wear the flannel pants and a shirt."

"Oh, you'll live. I'll find a way to make it up to you." I pushed him out of the walk in closet. "Now stay put, I'll only be a moment."

He clutched his chest. "Parting is such sweet sorrow. I don't know how I'll be able to bear it."

I shot him a glare. "You'll survive. I promise." I changed quickly, and threw the closet door open.

"Ta da!" I twirled around, posing. "How do I look?"

Patrick wasn't in front of me anymore. "Patrick?" I called out quietly. "Where are you?"

"Boo."

I jumped backwards into something hard. I spun around and was face to face with Patrick's chest.

"You scared me," I accused him, pointing my finger up at him.

He grinned and picked me up, carrying me to the bed. He deposited me on the right side and lay down on the left. I rolled over closer to his side. He smiled softly at me. "Sorry I scared you. It won't happen again I promise."

"It better not. Otherwise we may not being going out anymore. Secrets aren't very hot when half the secret disappears." I sat up and stretched my arms up, yawning. "I guess I'm more tired then I thought I was."

Patrick pulled me down on top of him. "What about homework?"

"My old school did half the stuff we're doing now second semester of ninth grade. Homework is a breeze here." I lay my chin on his chest and watched his face.

He propped his head up so he could look at me. His fingers grazed my cheeks and he stroked my hair. "Yeah, Forks isn't exactly an educational mecca."

"No kidding. At least I'm only here till the end of the year."

He paused. "What do you mean?"

"My mom's only going to be filming until the end of April, but my dad made her promise that we would stay here until the end of the school year, for Jack and I's sakes. My dad seems to like it here though," I laughed bitterly. "Maybe he'll finally work up enough courage to dump her. I'd probably live with him, since Jack will be at Yale by then."

Patrick stayed quiet.

"Hey," I said. "What's wrong?"

He blinked slowly and returned his gaze to me. "Nothing's wrong, just thinking."

I smiled at him. I rolled off of him and got under the covers. "Can you turn off the light?"

I heard him get up and flick off the light. Almost instantly he was back in bed and he got under the covers with me. His arm snaked around me and pulled me closer to him. He sighed. "Good night Sara."

I smiled. "You were right. This is nice."

"I usually am Sara, I usually am."

The next morning I woke up early, rolled over and stretched my arm, hitting something hard.

"Do you always greet your secret boyfriend in the morning by hitting him in the face?" Patrick said sarcastically.

"Only the ones I really like." I smiled up at him. "Hi."

"Hi yourself." I reached up and ruffled his hair.

"I have to shower," I commented offhandedly. "You should probably swing by your house and get a change of clothes."

"I have an extra pair of clothes in my car. Mind if I use one of your showers?"

"No," I murmured. "There's one in the guest room, it's pretty isolated from the rest of the house and you should be able to do it without Jack noticing. He's probably still asleep."

"Okay," he got out of bed and stood up. "That's where I'll be then. So I guess I'll see you at school then?"

"Only if you're lucky, and even then, it would only be in the closet. Since you know, secrets are hot and all."

"Ah yes, definitely the new black," he murmured. He bent down and kissed me. "See you at school."

"Bye," I whispered. I stood silently for a minute more before making my way to the bathroom for my shower.

I showered and got ready for school quickly and I grabbed a banana on my way out. Jack stumbled down a few minutes later and he started the car, but not before lecturing me on calling before I went anywhere.

School was pretty much the same as it was the day before. Bella and I chatted a little during lunch about gym. I told her about my sickness that had come on suddenly after French. She explained to me about Edward not talking to her at all. I commiserated with her. After all, secrets aren't meant to be shared.

I got a note from the office during fourth period to go the office at the twenty-five minutes of lunch. I was walking towards the entrance when I heard my name being called. I turned to see Patrick hidden close to the tree line. I walked quickly towards him and was rewarded with a kiss when I arrived. He picked me up and spun around, hiding us behind a tree. He leaned in playfully, effectively shielding me from any passerby.

"And how was your day?" He asked as he kissed the side of my neck.

"Oh, you know. The usual." I said, trying to focus on anything but Patrick.

He pulled away. "No, I don't know."

"I had a geometry test, and we got a lecture in English. Definitely not my idea of fun. What about you?"

He smirked. "First period I thought about you, same with second period. Third period I composed an ode to your t-shirt and fourth period I had a geometry test."

"An ode to my t-shirt, huh?" I raised an eyebrow and glanced downwards. It was an ordinary t-shirt with some random slogan displayed on it. "It is pretty spectacular isn't it?"

"Only when you're wearing it." He grabbed my hand and pulled me deeper into the woods. "Come on, I found a stream."

"We only have twenty minutes," I complained. "That's totally not enough time."

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Where's your sense of excitement?"

"Obviously not on the same page as yours," I retorted. "Plus, it's completely overcast so we can't bask in the sun."

His only reaction was to pull on my hand harder. He led me a little deeper in the forest to a little stream. Emphasis on little.

"This is nice," I said uncertainly. "It's very small."

Patrick sat down on the ground. "I figured we could go here for our secret meeting place. How does that sound?"

"I don't think I could find this place again."

"Nonsense," Patrick scoffed. "It's not that hard." He looked at me carefully. "Well maybe for you it would be, being a city girl and all."

"Is that a challenge Mr. Cullen?" I smirked. I crossed my legs and sat down across from him. "We only have a few minutes before we have to go back."

"Then let's make it worthwhile," he murmured into my shoulder.

"Yes, let's." I shifted to the left so that he was facing my back. "But first, it's time for French."

"I'll meet you there, it's better if we aren't leaving together. You know since this is a secret and all."

I smiled. "You sound like you might have done this before. See you later then."

I slipped through the trees and checked the buildings for people. When I didn't see any I walked quickly towards class. The rest of the day passed without much else going on, except more of Bella being really klutzy in gym. I felt bad for her, but couldn't really sympathize. Sports had always come really easily to our family. My dad had gone to Williams for football before he blew out his knee and focused on his grades. That's where he had met my mom. He was visiting the old alma mater between semesters at Columbia Law and she was at the summer festival for theater in between films. When I was 3 she had taken off for LA for a few years, leaving my dad to take care of the two of us. I don't think he's ever really forgiven her, but he stays with her anyways.

The rest of the week passed without incident. More secret meetings and sharing of information of one another were shared between the two of us. For a boy who claimed to want to take things slow, Patrick seemed to be getting pretty involved in the relationship. Not that I was complaining. As much as I wanted to deny it, in less than a week I had fallen hard for him.

It wasn't like I hadn't ever been in a relationship. There was Vince and then in the summer there had been the guy who had played my mom's son in a movie. Those were in the past though, and neither boy held any of the appeal that Patrick held. Vince had been cute, but Patrick was practically a male model in looks alone, plus he was one of the nicest boys I'd ever met. The only thing I had any doubts about was the Cullens not knowing about our relationship.

**Playlist:**

Perfect Day – Hoku

Morning Morgantown – Joni Mitchell

Such Great Heights – Iron & Wine

Edge of the Ocean – Ivy


	8. A Boy Like That

_Ok, so if I'm correct in my time frame this chapter takes place around February 11, 2005. Thank you for reviewing, it's really nice and it keeps me happy. _

_Sorry it took so long to update. Finals are dreadful, but now I'm a second semester senior(!). Anyways, here it is…_

**Disclaimer:** not mine, blah blah blah…

**Chapter 7: A Boy Like That**

I threw down the clothes I'd been unsuccessfully trying to organize for the past hour. "We've been going out for almost two weeks and you were gone for three days, without telling me," I complained to Patrick as he lounged on my bed. "Newsflash, you don't disappear for three days and not tell your girlfriend, especially when she has a big history project coming up. And you especially don't sneak into her room and surprise her with flowers and freak her out and make her happy at the same time."

"So," he ventured after a minute. "No flowers next time then?"

I sighed, my hands on my hips. "Just next time please tell me when you're going to leave. Where were you anyways?"

He sat up and made room for me on the bed. "I was camping, with the family. There hasn't been that much sun in a while and we decided to make the most of it." He dipped his head and looked up at me. "I'm sorry you got worried. I would have called you but Carlisle and Esme decided to have us go at the last minute."

"I guess I can't call your family up and yell at them then?" I asked. His ensuing look of horror answered my question. "Guess not."

"I'm sorry Sara."

"Why won't you tell your family that we're dating?" I asked sharply.

He laughed. "God you're incorrigible, and incredibly persistent. It's not me, it's them. Like I said, they're extremely private people, and I'd rather we date for a little while longer before they are informed of our relationship."

He spent the night since it was Friday. Before he got into bed I wrapped myself in a flannel blanket because he was so cold. I don't know if he noticed though because he was too focused on trying to make me laugh.

"It's almost two in the morning. Stop trying to make me laugh you goon."

"I'm not trying to make you laugh. It's not my fault I've got a girlfriend who's easily amused."

I sighed, and he kissed the tip of my nose. "Tell me about your family."

"Which one?"

"This family. Tell me about Emmett and Jasper. Tell me about everyone."

He kept me up till four, recounting stories about the various things their family had gotten into. From the way his face lit up I could tell he really cared about them and it made me happy to see him so animated about something.

I fell asleep after a while, timing my breathing to his and trying to get as close to him as humanely possible. His breath smelled wonderful, just like the rest of him and even though we had only been dating for two weeks I was starting to think that maybe I could love him.

Love. Love was such a scary word, so much bigger then the four letters that composed it. I wondered if he felt the same way towards me. I thought that maybe he did, because sometimes when he didn't think I would notice he would look at me all starry-eyed like I affected him just as much as he affected me. It made me happy to feel like that. With Vince it had almost been a relationship of convenience. He had been nice and all, but nice wasn't the only component of a successful relationship. Patrick was just so much more and I couldn't get over how lucky I was that we had found each other.

The next morning I woke up alone with a little note in my closet. In perfect handwriting Patrick had written:

_Sara,_

_Had to go socialize with the family. Call my cell if you have the chance. I won't answer if I'm near family, but I'll call you back._

_I promise,_

_PC_

I checked the time on my clock, 9:20. Plenty of time to waste before he was expecting a call probably. I made myself busy, finishing any homework I had left and tidying up my room a little.

At 11:00 I could feel my cell phone practically screaming my name. I decided resistance was futile and I slowly dialed out the number Patrick had programmed in my phone.

The phone rang for a few minutes before the automated voice came on. I didn't leave a message, figuring he would know that it was me.

I puttered around for a while longer, trying to not concentrate on the fact that I was going through Cullen withdrawal. I wondered if any of Patrick's previous girlfriends had suffered from it. Of course, after thinking about his girlfriends I started thinking about what he'd said about having all his previous relationships be physical. I had barely seen any sign of this because the whole time we'd been dating he'd barely kissed me. I wasn't asking for sex or anything, but still. Why was it that he had had these physical relationships before me and now he was acting like I would break if he held me the wrong way.

There was definitely something fishy about his story. I wondered if maybe I was his first relationship. The boy was pretty romantic though, no doubt about it.

This led to me wondering about all the little Patrick mysteries I'd discovered in the past few weeks. For instance, he hadn't been at school when it was sunny. The one day that it had been sunny, and that I had seen him, was the day we went to Seattle and even then it had only been sunny for 10 minutes and he'd had his whole body covered. The boy was seriously pale, but maybe he had a skin thing he didn't want me to know about.

I shook off the feeling that Patrick wasn't telling me everything. After all, no good relationship lasts with suspicion, and Patrick and I had a good relationship so far. I think.

I was home alone because Jack was at the basketball game with a few of his friends. Dad was at work as usual and my mom was who knows where. I was getting out my math homework when I heard a knock on the door. I ran down the stairs and looked through the hole. Nobody seemed to be there but I opened the door anyways. There was nobody at the door and I glanced down purely out of habit. There lying on the doormat was a handful of magazines. I picked them up and studied the first one closely. The headline was about Brad Pitt but in the corner was a face I recognized, my mother's. I flipped through the magazine until I found the article. It was mostly about her new movie but when I turned the page I was greeted with my face. The sidebar was hot pink and blared: _Is the Youngest Trent following the footsteps of her Mother's wild past?_ In it was a blurb about how I was practically an alcoholic and that I'd spent most of my sophomore year living it up with the various dregs of the New York nightlife. The piece de resistance was a photo of me with a Cosmopolitan with my hand. It was a picture from my 15th birthday, taken by someone that I thought was my best friend. I flushed hotly with embarrassment even though nobody else was at home.

I shut the door quickly and sprinted up to my room. I was thankful for once that nobody was home, because I needed some alone time. I threw myself onto the bed and buried my head into the pillow.

"Sara?" Patrick asked tentatively. I felt him lay down next to me. "Sara what's wrong?"

"Everything," I sobbed. "Everything in the whole world is wrong."

He pulled me up out of the pillow and laid my head on his shoulder, putting his arm around me. He rocked slowly back and forth. "Shhh, it's going to be okay. I promise you, everything is going to be okay."

I sniffed loudly, for once not caring how I looked in front of him. "How do you know? It's not like you're psychic or anything."

He chuckled. "I just do."

He sat with me for the next hour while I vacillated between crying and ranting, just murmuring comforting words. After I'd calmed down he just kissed me on the forehead and helped me into bed.

"How'd I get so lucky to get a boyfriend like you?" I asked dreamily, about to fall asleep.

He lay down next to me, stroking my cheek. "I honestly have no idea."

I chuckled ruefully. "Aren't we the kidder? Seriously though, I'm too wild for you."

He mock glared at me. "You're about as wild as a cat sleeping. Now sleep for a little while. You need it."

"Thanks Mom."

If he responded I didn't hear because I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

The next morning he was gone without a note, but I didn't think anything of it. After all, he had his obligations and I had mine.

I decided to call Bella and see if she wanted to do anything. Some man, her father I presumed, answered the phone.

"Hi, is Bella there?"

"_Yes of course, who is this?_"

"Sara, I'm a friend from school."

"_Hi Sara, how are you?_"

"I'm good. Hey, do you want to maybe hang out?"

She hesitated. "_Sure, I'd like that. Where do you live?_"

I gave her my address and she promised to come over soon.

I tidied up the house a little, anxiously awaiting her arrival. It felt like an eternity before the doorbell rang. I sprinted to the door and threw it open.

"Hey!"

"Hi," she said uncertainly. "So what do you want to do?"

"Do you want to hang out here, or should we go somewhere else?"

"Um, the only place I can think of is Port Angeles, you know, where we flew into? The only problem with that is you don't drive and my car doesn't get great mileage."

I waved a hand at her. "I'll help pay for gas it's fine. Or you could take one of our cars."

"Oh, I couldn't do that," Bella had a horrified look on her face. "What if I crashed it?"

I smiled, remembering Jack's first attempts at driving. "Believe me, it wouldn't be the first time."

Bella shook her head insistently. "Still, I don't think I could do that. Sorry Sara."

"It's fine," I shrugged. "Want to watch a movie?"

Her grateful smile was the only answer I needed.

"Come on," I gestured. "I I'll let you pick."

Bella was nice, really nice. It was hard to believe that she would want to be friends with me, but somehow we got along fine.

"So wait a second," she tried to stop giggling. "You're telling me that he's just like a completely normal guy? He's not some sort of weird freak or anything like that?"

"No, he's pretty strange when he wants to be. But okay, you have to tell me. What's the deal with Edward?"

She looked down. "I have no idea. You saw us the day at the hospital, when we were fighting. He hasn't talked to me since, even though we sit next to each other everyday in Biology."

"Boys are lame," I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he's secretly in love with you and he's dying to work up the courage to ask you out."

She laughed quietly. "First off, boys that look like that don't ask girls like me out, nor do they need to work up the courage to ask someone out. I have no idea what I did to him, but I'm definitely not viewed as a potential date in Edward Cullen's mind."

Jack burst through the door, humming loudly and off key to some Metallica song. He did a double take when he saw Bella in the living room. "Is it possible? Does my persnickety younger sister actually have company over?"

"Ha ha," I said sourly. "Aren't we just the regular comedian tonight."

"You better believe it." He stuck out his hand. "Hi Bella, I'm John Trent, but you can call me Jack."

"Hi," Bella said shyly. She looked at the clock. "Oh wow. Char- I mean my dad should be home soon and dinner's not going to make itself. Sara, I had a really nice time. We should hang out at lunch tomorrow. Get you away from the immature sophomores."

"Sounds good." I hugged her lightly and waited until she was gone before punching Jack lightly in the shoulder. "Way to go loser."

"What?" Jack protested, obviously affronted.

"You scared her away."

"I don't scare people away dearest sister, that would be your job." Jack ruffled my hair lightly. "Besides, I haven't seen you at all today and don't you want to spend time with your favorite family member?"

"Um, Jack, Gerald died two years ago."

"Oh," Jack cried. "Look who's talking! If I didn't know any better I'd say that you were given the wit and dazzling good looks in this family."

"I guess it's true what they say. Ignorance really is bliss." I started to walk up the stairs. "Good night Jack."

Sunday passed lazily with the dim winter sun barely shining from behind the clouds. I spent most of my day in my room, hanging off my bed waiting for nothing to happen. My mom came home for a few hours, but that was only to grab more clothes before going back to the set. I barely even said hello to her before she sprinted out of the house, but not before having her assistant give me a lecture on the importance of good press. If only the paparazzi could see the Trent family now.

Monday morning rain fell down in imperfect sheets all around the car as Jack and I argued about the TV show we'd watched the night before. Jack was convinced that the lead in the show had hired someone to kill her husband, but I wasn't so sure.

I had forgotten an umbrella but I had my raincoat on so I started to walk quickly towards Dr. Kaiser's class. Alice Cullen passed by me and I tried to compose my face in order to look as innocent as possible.

She breezed past me without a second glance as I resisted the urge to say something to her. I tried to continue towards the building when Cindy and Randy intercepted me.

"Hey Sara!" Randy said excitedly. "How was your weekend?"

My mouth moved soundlessly for a few seconds.

"Good," I managed to spit out. "I had a good weekend."

"So Sara," Cindy asked shrewdly. "Why didn't you tell us that your mom was Analise Trent?"

I gaped at her as she continued on. "I mean, of course I read all those magazines, so imagine my surprise when I saw you in there. It all makes sense now. By the way, is Tom Cruise really as weird as they say he is?"

"I wouldn't know," I said faintly. "I've only met him once or twice."

"Oh my gosh!" Cindy squealed. "That's amazing. We have to talk about this over lunch."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Patrick coming towards me. I knew that he wouldn't want to blow our cover so I stayed quiet as he was passing by us. Then, he stopped.

"Excuse me," he said to both Randy and Cindy.

"Hi," I said stupidly, with a question in my eyes.

He grinned and kissed me in front of everyone. Cindy's gasp was audible to everyone and people walking to class stopped and stared. He broke off the kiss and rested his forehead on mine. "I missed you."

**Playlist:**

A Boy Like That – West Side Story

Here it Goes Again (UK Surf) – OK Go

Fishing the Sky – The Appleseed Cast

Long Time Coming – The Delays


	9. We've Only Just Begun

_Dearest Readers,_

_Thank you kindly for any reviews you may have left me. Believe me when I say that all were appreciated, giddily read multiple times and kept me going during the past couple of days. _

_Without further ado, here's chapter 8._

**Chapter 8: We've Only Just Begun**

"What are you doing?" I hissed, yanking on Patrick's arm as he stumbled to keep up with me. Once we reached the protected part of the building, hidden from most of the spectators I wheeled on him. "I thought the whole reason we hadn't told anyone we were dating was because your family is so secretive."

"Apparently, Emmett saw us and mentioned it to Alice." He placed a hand against the wall on either side of me. "Now, tell me the truth, why are we hiding here when we could be walking to your class?"

"You want to walk me to class?"

Patrick leaned in towards me, dangerously close. I couldn't look anywhere but his eyes, those beautiful deep gold colored eyes. "Well, I'd rather keep you here to myself, but if the only way I can spend time with you is if I walk you to class, then yes. I do want to walk you to class."

I kissed him on the cheek and slid out under his arm. When he protested I placed my books in his arms. "You're carrying my books. That's what boys do for girls nowadays."

His hands were still just as cold as they had been the first day I'd met him. I liked to think that I was used to it, but it still surprised me as I hooked my pinky around his. His response was to pull me lightly towards him. He put his arm around me as we walked down the hall.

Randy and Alan were standing in the hall in front of DK's class, joking around with another one of their friends. As Patrick and I drew closer, they stopped talking and stared at us. Patrick merely quirked up his eyebrow and dutifully gave me back the books.

"Aren't I just the best boyfriend ever?"

I contemplated this for a moment. "Only sometimes."

He chuckled and kissed me. "Aren't we sassy today?"

"Sassy?" I pulled back and smiled goofily. "Look who's been watching too many 90's chick flicks with their sisters."

"Maybe I just like saying sassy three times fast." He smiled mockingly and stuck out a pale finger. "Now get to class before Dr. Kaiser gives you a C. Can't have you failing now can we?"

I walked into the classroom, but not before childishly shoving him down the hall. Randy followed me and kept quiet until we had both gotten our notebooks out.

"So," he muttered. "How long have the two of you been dating?"

"Not very long," I said lightly.

Randy looked up hopefully. "Then you can still dump him."

"Why would I want to break up with my boyfriend? There's a reason I started dating him, you know."

"Sara, the Cullens aren't good news." Randy enunciated slowly. "There's something off about them."

I glared at him. "Is this because they're all adopted? Because Patrick's parents died in an accident and it's unbelievable that you would not like them because they were nice enough to take him in."

"I didn't mean it that way," Randy spluttered, having the audacity to look affronted. "I just meant they don't play sports or anything else school related. I just think it's weird that they wouldn't want to be involved somewhat at school. Whatever, I'll just drop it because obviously someone's in a touchy mood today."

"Whatever," I flipped my hair and faced towards the board. I really didn't need anything like that today.

The rest of my classes were pretty much the same. Art History was a senior class and I kept getting weird stares from a couple of the girls. I didn't even want to go there. Patrick was a sophomore, as in recently 16 and still being awkward. Not that Patrick was awkward, I was pretty sure that the day Patrick was awkward would be the day I hooked up with Mike Newton. Which would be never.

The morning was familiar in a strange sense. Wherever I went people went quiet, and stared at me wide-eyed. Like I had just sprouted an extra head, or two. I guess I should have been used to it, but still, not exactly the type of feelings that keep you warm and fuzzy on the inside.

I walked into the cafeteria alone, a first in recent memory. Cindy stared balefully at me from her position next to Randy. I didn't have any idea why, after all I had a boyfriend and I was sitting with him at lunch, even if I was slightly scared of his family.

"Lunch milady?" A tray was casually placed in my hands.

"Thanks," I said wryly. "Since I seem to have pissed off my friends, where do you suggest we sit?"

"If they were your friends they wouldn't be pissed that you, and this is just a guess, had a boyfriend and didn't tell them." He placed a hand on each of my shoulders and guided me towards an empty table. "Now, which cardboard entrée would you rather have?"

I glanced down at the tray, noticing the first time that it was almost completely full with food. "Uh, the ravioli I guess. Not that this is real ravioli."

"You're right," he said slowly. "Probably derived from a rare kind of box or a special plastic."

I laughed lightly, throwing back my head slightly in order to get a look around. The Cullen table found all its members in their usual positions. Cindy was staring intently over here as was Bella's friend, that short one.

"So," I drawled. "Normally I'm all for no privacy, but I feel a little violated right now. What do you say about getting out of here?"

Patrick considered it for a few seconds, looking at something I couldn't see. His eyes widened slightly and he glanced back at me, a bemused expression on his face. "Your brother is making his way towards the table, in what I suppose is intended to be extremely intimidating towards me. Don't worry Sara, I promise to tell him that my intentions toward you are completely dishonorable."

I grinned. "I wouldn't expect anything less." I turned in my chair, regarding Jack with a slight smile on my face. "Hey Jack."

"Don't 'Hey Jack' me, Sara, especially not with that little smirk on your face." If my "friends" had been angry with me, it was nothing compared to how Jack looked. "So, want to tell me what's going on?"

"Um, Jack, this is Patrick. Patrick is my boyfriend, Jack, so be nice."

"Obviously Sara, this guy is your boyfriend. From the way some people are telling it, he practically mauled you in the middle of the quad." Patrick opened his mouth to protest and Jack held up a finger warningly. "Don't even get me started on you."

"Jack," I wheedled. "It's not a big deal. We've gone through the whole dating thing before, you and I. You're worse then Becky and Mom with the whole appearances thing."

Jack glared at me. "Sorry for the concern, Trent. If you'd rather I let you get your heart broken into little pieces by some ridiculous pretty boy type, then I'll let you go ahead and date this boy." He sneered the last word, glowering at Patrick, who just sat there the whole time, with a smirk on his face.

I kicked Patrick under the table, but he gave no indication of having felt it.

"Jack, believe me when I say that I don't want to be having this conversation under the scrutiny of the Forks High rumor mill," Patrick stood up and gestured outside. "Why don't you and I go outside for a few minutes."

The two of them walked away, but not before Patrick kissed me. Jack's face was so red I thought he was going to explode. I threw away the rest of the food and found Bella.

"Hi," she greeted me quietly. "How have you been?"

I shrugged. "Been better. How about you?"

"I'm doing good," she said awkwardly. "Want to start walking?"

"Sure." Bella was much too nice to bring up the whole Patrick thing, so I figured that I'd dispel any awkwardness. "So, Patrick is best friends with Edward."

"He is?" Bella's eyes flashed briefly with an emotion I couldn't identify before returning to their normal brown. Her voice was hesitant. "How long have the two of you been dating?"

"A few weeks," I smiled foolishly. "We just didn't want to take it public. I really like him though."

A pale arm snaked out and pulled me towards something. "So you really like me, huh?"

"I think you already knew that," I said teasingly. "Bella, I believe you know Patrick."

Bella waved bashfully. "Hi Patrick."

"Bella," he nodded tightly, before turning back towards me. "Your brother is in a much better mood now."

I regarded him skeptically. "How did you bribe him?"

"He's driving the Beemer around Forks." Patrick had the decency to look sheepish as I gaped at him.

Bella said goodbye and walked towards Biology by herself, but not before shooting us a cursory glance over her shoulder.

"You could have been nicer," I accused him lightly. "She's one of the nicest people I've met here in Forks."

"Nicer than moi?"

"Bella doesn't try to seduce me three times a day. Thank God."

The rain had stopped for a while and Patrick put our books down on a bench. He spun me around so that I had my back to the wall. "What are you trying to imply here? Any seduction that occurs in this relationship is purely you, and you don't see me complaining."

He had me there. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. He slid his feet under mine, so I was almost eyelevel with him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sighed. "So, how does your family feel about this?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "They seem to have calmed down a little since this weekend. Apparently they all suspected something and Emmett just confirmed it."

We stayed there for the rest of lunch, completely oblivious to anyone around us. I was almost afraid for French class, but when we walked in, casually holding hands, Madame Dufour merely lifted an eyebrow.

"It's about time you two started dating," she said dismissively. "The French know the ways of the heart and you two are obviously in love."

I quickly dropped Patrick's hand and walked to my seat. It was bad enough that everyone else had to stare at the two of us, but when your French teacher decides to say it in front of the whole class, you know you've hit the big time. So to speak.

I don't think either of us watched the Truffaut movie that day. Since we were in the back, we were pretty much hidden by the rest of the desks and students, so we could get away with not paying attention in class. Not that it would do anything. Both of us probably had A's anyway. I had my hair in front of me as I faced Patrick, a goofy smile permanently plastered on my face.

"Aren't you glad this happened?" His face looked hopeful as he traced designs on my leg.

I nodded. "Even though it means that the rest of the school knows, I am glad we're out of the closet." His hand inched up higher, and I shoved it back down. "And there it is."

"What?"

I nudged his knee. "You were the one who wanted to take things slow. I believe you extolled upon the virtues of the teenage boy and his restraint. Yet, here you are, trying to get God knows where during French class."

"I wasn't trying to get God knows where," Patrick protested quietly. "I was writing my name on your leg."

"I'm sure," I said darkly. "Can we go somewhere today?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know." I sat still for a moment. "Could I meet your parents?"

He shook his head. "Not today, maybe later, when the shock of the relationship isn't so fresh."

"Do you want to maybe meet my dad?" I asked shyly. "He's working at home all this week."

His smile almost blinded me. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

We started lacrosse in gym. Coach divided us up by boys and girls, but when I started walking towards the girls' field she pulled me back.

I looked at her questioningly.

"Let's put you with the boys, and see how you do there."

I grinned and trotted out to where Mike Newton was posing with his stick.

"What are you doing here?"

I rolled my eyes. "I could ask you the same thing. The girls' field is that way Newton."

"I suppose that means you're a boy then," Mike scoffed. "That would explain why Cullen likes you so much."

I was glad I had the right shoes on as I stalked towards him. "What are you trying to imply, Newton?"

"Nothing," he said cuttingly. "Just that it's interesting that Cullen picks the best girl athlete in school as the girl he wants to date. I guess he likes the butch girls."

He and a few guys laughed.

"Oh Mike," I simpered. "I understand that you're jealous, but I'm sorry. Patrick only has enough for one girl. Sorry, I guess you'll just have to find someone else to be jealous of. But, I heard Jessica doesn't date anyone. You two would be the cutest couple ever."

When he protested, I took simple pleasure in kicking him where it hurt.

"You bitch!" He clutched his shin, a place where I knew he had already had a bruise from a particularly gruesome game of dodgeball.

The coach came over. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm sorry Coach. Newton here just wanted to know whether I was able to keep up with him in lax. So I showed him some of my moves." I glanced back towards Mike, who was sitting on the ground clutching his leg still. "I don't think we're going to have any more problems with him."

I strolled towards the parking lot, smirking the whole way. I needed to plot revenge on Mike Newton somehow. Subtlety was key.

The green Beemer pulled up at the front. I jogged the rest of the way and threw the door open.

"On time as always Jeeves," I quipped.

Patrick tipped an imaginary hat. "I try. So, your house then?"

"Naturally. Did you talk to Jack?"

"Your brother is surprisingly bribable. If he wants to be a politician, he should work on that." Patrick laughed. "He approves of me now."

"I see," I muttered. "Glad to know that I can be traded on, like I was a Chanel purse on Ebay."

"Oh, no," Patrick shook his head. "More like a Coach bag. Or maybe something for Target."

I let out a suffering sigh. "You wish I was that cheap."

"Indeed I do." He pulled into our driveway. "Are you ready to have me meet your dad or what?"

"Would it be so horrible if I said or what?"

He tugged me out of the car. "Come on slowpoke. It won't be that bad. What's the worst that could happen?"

"My dad's a card carrying member of the NRA."

He paused and did a double take, exaggerating for effect. "Believe me when I tell you, guns have no effect on me."

"And how's that work?"

"I, my dear, have transcended death. My charm renders me impervious to bullets and overprotective fathers who want to protect their only daughters."

I let us into the house. "Now who's the slowpoke?"

He caught up to me in two strides. "I believe that would still be you."

_Any questions, ideas and complaints should be directed towards me, in a message or whatever. _

_Happy day!_


	10. I Wasn't Prepared

_This was supposed to be posted next week. or something like that. unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances (stupid JFK airport) my flight to NYC was canceled and I have to completely rearrange my trip to Maine. You know, where the moose are? Soooo here's chapitre neuf. It's a little melodramatic, but it neeeeds to be like that. That being said, if you think it's completely off base let me know. _

_ Thanks for all the reviews by the way. They made me smile. :D  
_

**Chapter 9: I Wasn't Prepared**

If my life were anything like a romantic teen movie, this little bit of adversity would have been the end and Patrick and I would have lived happily ever after in celluloid dreams.

Unfortunately, if my life had taken the form of any type of movie it would have to be slasher films. Not in the morbid, everyone I know is going to die way, but in the I'm going to walk into something completely predictable, even though everyone is screaming at me to not do it.

Fortunately, for me, this predictable thing was love. But of course, being me, this wasn't simple love. This was head over heels, hit my heart with a sledgehammer, love. I really needed to learn to roll with the punches.

It had been a week and a half since Patrick and I had officially been out as a couple. I still hadn't met his parents, and he'd only met my dad once. Thankfully my dad had minimalized any weapons references. Actually, he'd loved Patrick and had made him stay for dinner. Still, his family was extremely distant and it kind of hurt my feelings that they wouldn't be accepting of me. After all, we'd been dating a month and I thought they would at least want to meet me.

I decided to take my mind off everything I'd been worrying about the past week and take my new Lexus out for a spin. Patrick had already driven with me and claimed that I drove like an old woman, but I just didn't want to crash the car. I got a map to the little town we'd flown into, Port Angeles, and drove, music blaring down the highway.

Turns out there wasn't much in the way of stores, but I found some things to buy. I really needed to go to Seattle soon. The only thing I liked about Port Angeles was this little Italian place. Maybe I could get Patrick to take me there soon.

I loaded the shopping bags into the back of the Lexus and jingled my keys to the tune of the song I was humming. I slid into the driver's seat and grabbed my phone, checking for messages. Four missed calls and two new voicemails.

_Hi Sara. It's Diane. I just wanted to say how sorry I was for the magazine photos. I didn't really mean for that to happen I swear to God. I'm so so so sorry and I hope you can forgive me. We all miss you so much and Vince told me to tell you hey. I know, lame right but at least he's trying. Anyways, I hope you don't immediately delete this when you get it because you're still my best friend in the whole world and I miss you like a fat kid misses cake. Trent, please call me back._

I contemplated deleting it but saved it instead. Let her suffer for a little while longer, she totally deserved it. I clicked to the next message.

_Hi, it's me. Call me when you get this because it's important. We need to talk._

I quickly dialed his number.

"Hi," he breathed almost immediately. "Where are you?"

"Um, I'm in the car. What's up?"

"Can you come meet me in the park in a little while?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in like an hour."

"Okay, I-" he hesitated. "Well, I'll see you then."

Before I could say anything more he hung up. God he was weird sometimes.

I drove towards Forks carefully. I arrived at the park and haphazardly got out of the car. The sun was low in the sky, turning the sky a mix of pink and orange. I took a moment to admire it before continuing on.

Patrick was standing with his back towards me. He had on a hooded sweatshirt and gloves. He seemed to sense that I was there and he turned around, smiling beatifically.

"Hello."

"Um, wanna tell me why I'm meeting you in this random park when we could have just gone back to my house?" I narrowed my eyes at Patrick. "Not that I mind or anything."

He rolled his eyes. "Hello dearest boyfriend who is always so happy to see me. I just love how you try to surprise me by taking me to this cute park where we can be alone without having to worry about either of our families."

"Fine, I'll try again. Hi," I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him lightly on his cheek. "So, I just got back from a little day trip to Port Angeles for a little shopping. We should totally go there one of these days."

"Sounds fun," he commented dryly.

"Oh, totally," I murmured. "Hey, do you..." I trailed off noticing the look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked lamely, trying to be the supportive girlfriend.

He tugged on my hand and led me to the table that was a few feet away. "I have something to tell you. Something that can't wait."

"Are you breaking up with me?" I looked at him with thinly veiled desperation. "Because I totally didn't mean to get mad about coming here."

"No," he reassured me. "The opposite actually."

"Oh," I gestured with my hands. "Then by all means, continue."

"Thanks," he smirked. "So I brought you here in the sun."

"Ah yes," I interrupted. "The infamous sun and you wearing your gloves." I leaned into him, lightly nudging him. "Are you finally going to tell me about your skin condition?"

"My skin condition?" A confused look crossed his face before realization dawned. "You think I have a skin condition that is affected by the sun?"

"Well, yeah. What else could it be?"

"Hang on a minute," he complained. "You're getting me off topic. Let me say what I wanted to say to you first."

"I'm not stopping you."

Patrick took one of my hands in each hand. "Sara."

"Patrick," I mimicked his serious tone.

"Sara, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't even want to think about what life would be like without you. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if you hadn't come to Forks with your family. If I could spend every waking moment with you I could." He had my attention now and by the look on his face he knew it. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you. I love you, Sara Trent. I love your smile and the way you don't take crap from anyone. I love when you wake up and how you always look so peaceful. I love every single thing about you, even the bitchy judgemental side."

I sat there quietly, not saying anything. There was no possible way that he had me come here to just tell me that.

He looked away from my eyes. "You don't have to say anything back," he muttered. "I just wanted you to know how I felt."

I placed my hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at me. "Patrick Cullen, I love you so much it's not even funny."

"Really?" His eyes searched mine, his voice hopeful. "Really you do?"

I nodded. "Really. I really do."

He pulled me into a tight hug, his mouth finding mine. He finally pulled away, looking down at me. "You don't know how happy you just made me. Seriously, this is the best moment ever."

I laughed quietly. "Shut up and kiss me."

His face turned serious. "I need to tell you something first. I need to tell you the truth."

"The truth?" My voice took on a steely quality. "What do you mean?"

"Sara, there's no easy way to tell you this."

"I've always found that opening your mouth is a good way to start."

He sighed. "Sara, I'm a - I'm a."

"You're a what?"

"I'mavampire." He said it so quickly that I didn't hear what he'd said.

"You're what?"

"I'm a vampire." He enunciated slowly for effect. "We all are."

I did a double take. "What? Don't play games with me."

"I'm not," he said miserably. "I wish I was, but I'm not."

"Why are all the hot ones delusional?" I wondered aloud.

"I'm not delusional," he snapped.

"Prove it then," I challenged.

"Fine." He strode out into the sun, ripping off the gloves. He pulled off his sweatshirt and started to unbutton his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

He shot me a glare. "I'm proving to you that, yes, I'm really a vampire." He had finished unbuttoning his shirt and he threw it on the ground.

If Patrick was normally unnaturally gorgeous then there were no words for Patrick in the sunlight. His skin glittered with a thousand reflections of the sunset. I stifled a gasp as he smiled mockingly at me.

"This is what you wanted isn't it?" He called out to me. "Here's your proof."

"I believe you."

He grabbed his shirt and came towards me. When he reached out to me I shrank back in obvious fear.

"Please," I almost started to cry. "Please don't hurt me."

Heartbreak was apparent on his face. "Oh Sara. I could never hurt you. Would it help if I put my clothes back on?"

I merely nodded, unable to comprehend what he'd just done. In all the movies vampires drank human blood. I wondered how he'd been able to resist it so far. I wondered why I believed him so quickly.

Patrick pulled his sleeves down past his hands, in an attempt to hide the now obvious glitter. He knelt down on his knees and looked up at me beseechingly.

"I wanted to," he hesitated. "I wanted to tell you, really I did. But it's not really my secret to tell. Well, not really. It's our secret."

"What do you want me to say?" I snapped. "That it's fine? Because, I assure you it's not fine. Not at all."

He stood up, towering over me. "So what? It's all about you then?" He laughed bitterly. "Of course, it's all about you Sara. That's what this has been from the beginning. I tell you the most important thing that you can tell someone-"

I cut him off. "So you think by telling me you love me that you can soften the shock of you telling me that you're a vampire. That you can't have kids? That you can't die?"

He looked appalled. "No, Sara. I love you. I love you with all of my unbeating heart, that's why I told you. I thought you would understand. You told me that you loved me back. 'I love you so much it's not even funny.'" He ran his fingers through his hair, anguish marring his perfect features. "Don't even try to deny that it's what you said."

"I wasn't going to," I said miserably. "But how am I supposed to react to this?"

" I don't know!" He cried out. "I don't know what I'm supposed to tell you to make this okay. What do you want me to say to you to make this okay between us?"

"I don't know if this can be made okay." I stood up and walked away from him slightly. "I just need some time to think about this okay?"

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" His voice held an undercurrent of hope as he gazed at me.

I shook my head slightly. "I don't think anyone would believe me if I did."

He laughed ruefully and for the first time all night I noticed how tired he seemed to be. "You're probably right."

I smiled but there was no happiness to be found in the situation so I just turned on my heel and walked away from the best thing that had ever happened to me.

_love it? hate it? Tell me dear readers..._


	11. Sleep to Dream

_Dearest Readers... hopefully fourth time is the charm in regards to the Jet Blue debacle that is currently inundating my life. In the words of my favorite gay, "eff my life..."_

_Thank you for all the delightfully revealing reviews. Read on...  
_

**Chapter 10: Sleep To Dream**

I don't really know how I got to my car but suddenly it was right in front of me, the silver paint dully gleaming from the sunset. I shut my eyes painfully. I didn't need any reminders of what had just happened. I got in the car and just drove. My cell rang, the tinny beeping insistently echoing in my mind. I checked the display. _Jack_.

"Hello?"

"Sara? Where have you been?" Jack's concern was peppered with annoyance.

I sighed. "God Jack, what are you? My keeper?"

"No. I'm your brother and I can kick your ass all the way back to New York if you don't tell me where you've been."

"I've been taking in the sights of Washington. I'll be home soon okay? I promise."

"Fine," he relented. "I'll see you then. Love you loser."

"Yeah," I echoed. "Me too." I clicked the phone shut and kept driving.

The tears were coming faster now as all the turmoil I'd been trying to suppress was beginning to inundate me.

I thought back to the conversation we'd had almost a month ago, our first real conversation that hadn't included a psychiatric patient. I'd told him that I liked vampires, but I hadn't meant real vampires. I didn't know what I had meant. How were you supposed to react to finding out that the boy you were falling in love with was dead. No, not dead I reminded myself. Undead. Even better.

But I loved him and you can't just love a part of someone. You have to love all of them, faults and all. Patrick was the best thing that had ever happened to me and you don't let go of something, or someone, like that.

I stopped the car at the side of the road and let my head rest on the wheel. I had to think this through rationally. I loved Patrick and I thought he was perfect, or at least I had until I found out the truth about him. Still, I rationalized, it took a lot of courage to tell me that he was a vampire and I admired that.

On the other hand there was the whole blood drinking thing. How had he managed to be so close to me and resist drinking my blood? In all the movies vampires were portrayed as these evil creatures, intent on sucking the life out of every human around them. If Patrick and the rest of the Cullens were vampires then there must be some sort of special circumstance. Some reason why there hadn't been a multitude of deaths in the small town where we resided.

I glanced at the clock. It was late, I should have been home by now. I would have been home if Patrick hadn't told me the truth. This wasn't the time to be concerned about my family, not when more important decisions were to be made. No, I had to stay here in this spot until a decision was made.

As I sat there mentally chastising myself a small thought made itself known. I had already made a decision a month ago. By opening myself up to Patrick I'd fallen for him. I realized that I didn't care. I didn't care if Patrick was a vampire. He could have been a zombie and I still would care about him.

So I was a stupid little girl who'd fallen for a vampire. But he told me that he loved me back and that had to count for something, right?

I turned the car back on and started driving towards my house. I needed to get home quickly so that I could avoid getting into trouble. I raced down the roads, trying to get home before Jack got too upset at me. It felt like an eternity passed before the house appeared outside my window. I parked quickly and blew past Jack without a word as I raced towards my room. I opened the window and leaned outside of it.

"Patrick," I called softly. "Are you out there? We need to talk."

I waited for twenty minutes with no answer. I sat down on my bed. He wasn't coming.

"Of course he isn't coming," I said out loud. "He just told me his biggest secret and I couldn't leave fast enough. He has no reason to think that I would change my mind."

I curled up into a ball on my bed and cried myself to sleep. It's funny, how much you take something for granted and when it's gone you realize how much you miss it.

That night I couldn't sleep. I was wearing my normal clothes, with the usual sheets, yet I couldn't keep from tossing and turning. At around 3 in the morning I finally figured it out. Usually Patrick was in the bed with me, and that meant that since he was cold he pretty much negated the flannel pajamas and the thick sheets. Without him it was just needless heat engulfing me.

Why was I so stupid? Why couldn't I have just told him that I was fine with him being a vampire? It wouldn't have taken a lot, just a little lie at the time, just to ensure that he would have stayed with me. After all, it hadn't taken that long to process my thoughts, to think it all through and decide that yes, I was fine with it.

I mentally berated myself for a while longer and after shedding a few layers I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

I dreamed.

_The only sound I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat as the whole world faded around me. I embraced the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I sprinted across the open surroundings. I skidded to a stop, only half remembering that my legs needed to stop moving. I took a shaky breath and steeled myself to what was going to happen next. _

"_Wait!" I turned, of course he had come after me._

"_I have to, it's the only way."_

"_You don't have to do this, I promise you. We'll find a way to stop them. Please, just don't do this," he was as close to tears and desperation as he could be. _

_I smiled wistfully as he held out his arms. I took a step towards him and buried my face in his chest, happy again, if only for a brief moment. I tipped my head back to look at him and kissed him, one last time for eternity. I broke the kiss and placed my hand on his face._

"_It's better this way. All living things must come to an end." _

_He looked absolutely heartbroken as I stepped back, but he made no movement to stop me. _

_That's when I jumped._

I woke with a start, gasping for breath. The cloyingly vivid nature of the dream lingered with me still. I stumbled to my feet and made my way to the bathroom and I was sick.

I showered, musing over what had just happened. The man in my dream had been Patrick, but it wasn't Patrick as I knew him today. He looked the same, but he was dressed in extremely different clothing. Clothes that I had seen in period movies. The dream me hadn't been me either. It was almost as if I was implanted into someone else's life and memories. Someone else's death. I shuddered involuntarily and looked at the clock. Time for school.

Jack and I drove separately, partly because I'd left at least twenty minutes before he had. I parked the car next to Patrick's usual spot, which was empty. I sat in the car playing with my iPod, randomly picking depressing songs. I heard a engine behind me and I tried to casually look in the rearview mirror. It wasn't Patrick, or any of his other siblings. It was, however, Mike Newton and from the look on his face, he knew it was me in the car looking at him. Great.

I waited for another fifteen minutes, but to no avail. None of the Cullens were in school today. It seemed like I had made yet another mistake.

At lunch I went to the forest, to where Patrick had taken me a few times during lunch. I pulled out my phone and called his phone. I hung up the phone five times before leaving a message.

"Hi, it's me. I'm sorry I walked away last night. It, it, it was wrong. I love you and I meant what I said last night about that. I'm sorry I overreacted. Just, please. Please call me back. You're not at school, and I think it's because of me, but I'm not sure." I paused and took a deep breath. "Patrick, please call me back. I miss you, and I know that that might sound ridiculous given how I was last night, but it's true. I love you. I guess that's all. I hope I see you later."

I clicked the phone shut and held it to my chest. Now it was time to wait. I checked the time. Late, again. I shook my head ruefully and broke out into a jog towards the buildings.

I drove home in a daze and finished my homework. I can't remember how I ended up on the freeway, driving to that park again, but somehow it happened. I parked and walked out towards the table, where less than a day earlier my boyfriend had morphed into something unbelievable. I sat there for a few minutes, watching the grey sky and clouds swirl together in tangled patterns. Head tipped back, iPod blaring some random composer that Jack had forced me to listen to, I didn't notice the thing behind me.

Something reached out and tapped my shoulder. I shot back in surprise. "Holy shit! Who is that?"

"Hi," the thing said back, in if I wasn't mistaken, a quite morose manner. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. I don't think I would ever forget that voice.

"Hi yourself," I breathed. "How did you know I was going to be here?"

"You're surprisingly easy to find." He was turned away from me, so I could only see his profile in the quickly darkening light.

I took a step towards him. "Did you get my message?"

"Of course I did," he snorted derisively. "I don't know if I believe it."

"Why not?" I asked indignantly. "I meant every word I said."

He turned his head towards me, sadness emanating from his entire being. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'Actions speak louder than words?'"

"I know, I know, but I meant it when I said I loved you." I took another step towards him.

"Fine," he said, taking two steps away from me, so that he was almost hidden in the tree line. "Well, tell me, honestly. What's your decision?"

"I thought it was obvious," I murmured.

He nodded once and started to walk back towards where he had come. "Goodbye Sara."

"Where are you going?" I demanded, my voice shrill. "You can't just walk away from me."

He turned, puzzled. "You said your decision was obvious."

"Yes," I clarified. "Obviously, I'm going to choose you."

He still looked skeptical, but he walked back towards me. "Are you sure?"

I was quiet for a moment, contemplating this. Was I sure? I looked straight into Patrick's eyes, losing myself in the intensity of the gaze. "Yes, I'm sure."

He was next to me almost instantly, tracing my cheekbone with a cool finger, leaning in close to my face with his breath tickling my ear. "Positive?"

"Yes," I faltered, gasping a breath. "I'm positive. I'll want you for as long as you want me. That is, if you do want me?"

He smiled. "I do want you. I want to be with you and I love you." He wrapped his arms around me. "Come on, let's get you home."

"One thing before we leave," I murmured.

"Anything," he breathed, straightening up to his full height.

I pulled him down, kissing him hard. He smiled against my lips before breaking free effortlessly and hoisting me over his shoulder. "Shall I drive or should we let the old woman drive?"

I hit his back ineffectually. "Put me down Patrick Cullen. I'm driving my car, I'm not letting you anywhere near my baby."

He opened the passenger door and placed me inside, fastening my seatbelt for me. I pouted. "I'm not five."

"I wouldn't be able to tell by the way you're acting right now," he teased.

He drove me home slowly, leaning over to kiss me occasionally. He turned serious when he reached my house.

"I'll meet you upstairs soon. I love you."

I smiled. "I know you do."

I rushed upstairs, quickly changing and getting ready for bed. When I got back from brushing my teeth he was already waiting for me. I jumped on him.

"Hello again," I murmured, my face buried in his chest.

He inhaled sharply through his nose. "Did you change shampoos?"

"Yeah," I pulled back and looked him in the eye. "Seriously?"

"Seriously?" He asked quizzically.

"You know when I changed my shampoo?" I sighed. "I wish I could do stuff like that."

"You're just saying that," he muttered darkly, pulling me in closer to him.

I shook my head. "I'm tired. Can we sleep now?"

"Your wish is my command." He gracefully stood up, pushing me off his lap at the same time.

When all the lights were off he crawled back into bed with me. I grabbed his hand, and brought it up to my face. "I missed this."

"I was only gone for one night."

I was already drifting to sleep. "Yeah, but you have no idea how much I missed you."

"I think I have an idea," he replied. "You need to sleep Sara."

I fell asleep quickly, easily slipping into dreams.

_Patrick was there again, in a similar outfit to the one he'd been wearing previously. Not-me was right next to him, my hand reaching up to fix his collar._

"_Darling," Not-me murmured. "We should go back inside soon. They'll start to talk if we don't show our faces again."_

_Patrick smiled down at me, lifting my chin with a finger. "Let them talk, I don't care what they say. I love you. Don't you love me?"_

_Not-me placed my other hand on his shoulder, leaning up to kiss him quickly. "With all my heart."_

_He pulled on my hand and walked quickly toward an alcove. Twirling me into it he leaned in close. "I love you Aisling. Forever and a day."_

_Suddenly I was on the outside looking in at the little scene set before me. A high voice was suddenly in my ear._

"_He told me forever. And I intend to make him keep that promise."_

"Sara," Patrick was alarmed, shaking me softly. "Sara, wake up."

I sat up gasping for air. I took in a few shuddering breaths.

"Sara?" He asked quietly. "Are you alright?"

I was sweating, and my body was shaking uncontrollable. Patrick pulled me close, pressing his face into my hair. "It's alright Sara. I'm here, it's okay. It was just a bad dream, I promise you."

"Patrick," I said shakily. He looked at me questioningly. "Patrick, who's Aisling?"

_indeed. Any questions, comments and suggestions should be sent as soon as possible, as your question may not be answered for quite a while otherwise. And before anyone asks... Yes, Edward/Bella will be coming within the next two chapters. thanks for the patience (or not)  
_


	12. Waiting In Vain

_Dear Readers,_

_Thank you for all the offers of betaing. I've gone with _Emmohdee. _She's kind of amazing… Anyways, since last we posted, we got into college at Seattle U. Which was our safety, but still, we're pretty excited that we don't have to go to ITT Tech. Not that our school would have LET us go there, but still. When asked why we applied to Seattle when everywhere else was New England, we didn't feel the need to say that Seattle was near Forks. **Cough**… soooo without further ado, pomp or circumstance here is chapter 11. We're really feeling the Bob Marley._

**Chapter 11: Waiting in Vain**

Previously, on _Lesson in Survival…_

"Patrick," I said shakily. He looked at me questioningly. "Patrick, who's Aisling?"

_And now, on with the show…_

Patrick stared at me dumbfounded before he regained his composure. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Bullshit," I said quietly.

"I beg your pardon?" He reached out and pushed the hair out of my face. "Sara, you've just had a bad dream. I suggest you try to go back to sleep."

"Fine." I held his gaze for a minute more, before letting him guide my head onto his chest. "But I'm not going to drop this."

I slept easier for the rest of the night, no more vivid dreams and high voices uttering nonsensical diatribes at me. Instead I dreamed in colors, reds morphing into purplish hues that pulsated rhythmically.

I woke up slowly, trying to resist snuggling into Patrick, who was quite possibly the biggest cuddler ever.

"Mmmm," I said drowsily. "Do we have to go to school today?"

"I think you know the answer to that." He chuckled, twisting his hands into my hair. "Your brother is still asleep. Do you think he would object to me picking you up for school?"

"Even if he did, I wouldn't care." I smiled impishly. "Dad likes you, and that's enough."

"Ah yes," he shuddered lightly. "I'm so glad I passed the Harrison Trent test. I value my existence greatly."

I slid out of bed. "You still haven't told me about Aisling."

He paused, inclining his head towards me again. "I told you Sara. I don't know anyone by the name of Aisling. I never have and I never will. You just had a bad dream."

"I want to believe you," I replied, grasping at straws.

"Then believe me," he said simply. "I wouldn't lie to you."

I shook my head. "You would if you thought it would protect me." He didn't say anything as I cocked my head to the side. "Does the phrase 'forever and a day' mean anything to you?"

He blinked quickly. "Nope. Can't say that it does."

"Patrick." I crawled back into bed with him. "You know you can trust me, right?"

He cupped my face with his hands, kissing me lightly. "I do trust you. So trust me, when I tell you that I don't know anyone named Aisling."

"Then why did I have that dream?" I asked. "Why did I have two dreams about you and this girl?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea, but you need to get ready for school. We can try to figure this out later."

"Alright." I dragged out the word reluctantly. "Meet you here in twenty, for the pick-up then?"

"Go get ready," he said pointedly, his teeth glinting in the lamplight.

I got ready quickly, pulling out a long black coat that my mom had gotten from one of her favorite designers. She wouldn't even notice that it was gone, because she'd already been photographed in it.

By the time I'd finished inhaling the piece of toast I'd burned, Patrick was outside. He was leaning against his Beemer and when he saw me he laughed. "Aren't we fashion forward this morning?"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." I replied mockingly. "You're lucky that you have two sisters who like clothes."

"Just get in the car, fashionista."

At lunch we went to our usual table. I was about to casually mention the dream again when someone behind us cleared their throat. I turned around, about to tell off whoever was there, but instead my mouth fell open. Alice and Edward were standing behind me.

Alice smiled. "Mind if we join you?"

I stared at her. Her smile faltered for a second before I remembered that she was waiting for an answer. "No, go ahead." I moved my chair closer to Patrick and the two sat down.

"So," I said uncertainly. "How was everyone's morning?"

"Mine was boring." Alice chirped cheerfully. "What about yours Edward?"

"The usual," he murmured, directing his gaze at Patrick and me.

Alice smiled prettily, her face practically radiating her happiness to the rest of the world. "So, are you two going to the dance?"

I hadn't thought about it, and from the look on Patrick's face he hadn't considered it either. I shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Yeah," Patrick echoed. "Who knows?"

Alice glanced at me appraisingly. "You should wear something strapless, if you decide to go."

"I did see something at Neiman's last time I was there," I mused. "It was floral print and strapless, but it had a belt. I could easily take that off, though."

Alice nodded excitedly. "I know exactly the one you're talking about. I think it would be perfect."

"Great!" I exclaimed. Patrick and Edward were staring at the two of us, confused looks on their faces. "Do you want to go to the dance?"

Patrick nodded. "I guess that wouldn't be so bad. Though you'd put all the girls to shame."

I flushed. "Nonsense." I leaned into him. "You're just saying that."

I glanced over to where the rest of his family was located. Rosalie was looking towards us, staring haughtily. I sent a stare right back and after a moment she turned away, back towards Emmett.

Alice and the two boys were talking about something, but I couldn't hear a word they were saying. Finally, Patrick broke out of the conversation and looked down at me and smiled.

Alice was next to focus on me. "I like your shoes. Chanel makes the best flats." I smiled hugely at her, liking her even more. Anyone who shared my opinion on shoes got a big plus in my mind.

Edward merely glanced at me, before standing up with Alice and leaving. Alice turned back towards us and waved lightly before gliding out of the cafeteria.

"So that's my family."

"Yes, that is your family," I murmured into his shoulder, inhaling the smell of his coat lightly. "Any reason why they came over to say hello?"

"Alice has been wanting to say hello for a while now. Edward, on the other hand, was curious."

"Curious?"

He nodded and pulled me to my feet. "I'll tell you outside." He grabbed our trays and slung an arm around me, leading me towards the trash and then to our spot outside. "You're a human, and Edward was curious as to how that was between us."

"And how does it work?"

He shrugged lightly. "You don't affect me in that way."

I narrowed my eyes. "So you don't want to drink my blood?" We hadn't really discussed this part of our relationship and now that it had been brought up I was curious.

"Nope," he shook his head, grinning. "We don't do that anyway."

"You don't?" I was intrigued.

"Carlisle and his family are different than most, in that they drink strictly animal blood."

"So Smokey the Bear is fair game?" I smirked. "My dad told me a while back about the strict gaming laws here, so how does that work?"

"Gaming laws only apply to man-made weapons." He flashed his perfectly straight teeth. "We don't use guns."

"Ah," I said faintly. "I see."

He noticed my reluctance and sighed. "I'm not scaring you, am I?"

"No, I'm just confused." I shook the hair out of my eyes. "In all the movies…"

Patrick laughed, effectively cutting me off. "The movies are fake. We can't turn into bats anymore than you can. We don't sleep in coffins, we actually can't sleep at all."

"You can't sleep at all?" Realization dawned on me. "Then what do you do at night?"

"Um," he looked at me sheepishly. "I guess I just sit next to you. Don't worry though, you don't snore."

I stood up and walked towards the edge of the forest. He caught up with me instantaneously, touching my arm lightly. I grasped his hand and yanked, hard, practically dragging him towards the parking lot. "You and I have a lot to talk about. French can wait."

I sat patiently in his car as he fiddled with the sound system. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Who were you before you were a vampire?" I said even before he was finished.

He shrugged. "I honestly don't remember the details. I was English, around the age of 18 and I remember the names Derby and Arundel being important. After I was changed I went to Ireland and I lived with some vampires there. That was around 1540." He paused, frowning in concentration. "Yes, because that's when Henry VIII was in power, and when he died I went to Volterra."

"Wait," I interrupted. "What's Volterra?"

"'Hell grew darker at their frown.'" He quoted before grimacing. "Volterra is a place in Italy that's ruled by the three most powerful vampires in existence, Aro, Marcus and Caius. They are not like us in their diets. They are, however, the reason I met Carlisle."

"Is Carlisle as old as you?"

"No, he's about a century younger, but he's the reason I'm here today." He rubbed his arm idly. "I was visiting the Volturi for a while when Carlisle met them and he started to live with them. We learned from each other and I came to respect him greatly. He saved me essentially from myself. He helped me escape the guilt that comes with the taking of human life."

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"Don't be." He said swiftly, his voice growing harsh. "I only visited the Volturi in order to find out who, and what, I was before I had become a vampire. They didn't tell me, and I hated them for it. I haven't gone back since. Carlisle insisted on sticking to animals and becoming a doctor. I was determined to follow him. I returned to Ireland for about sixty years. I went back to my old coven and started to change diets. It was impossible at first. Living in Volterra where the food comes to you, you don't realize how careful you have to be. But slowly I started to become more used to animal blood. It was like going from a three-course meal every time I fed to subsisting solely on lettuce. Difficult, but as you can see, not impossible. It also helped that I had my gift, though it did make it tougher to completely change."

"Gift?" I queried.

"I guess I was good at hunting things in my human days. You see, there are certain traits that stand out in a being's personality. Rosalie had tenacity, Emmett had brute strength, Jasper charisma and apparently, I had tracking. It's how I found you yesterday." His face grew dark again. "Unfortunately, it's just another thing that dehumanizes me. Imagine having the ability to find and hunt your prey with such precision that they don't even know what's coming."

I didn't know what to say. I was proud that he had enough trust in me to tell me all about his life. On the other hand, I ached for him that he had gone through all this almost half a millennia, before I came along. It made me realize how insignificant I was in the scheme of things. "What about the group you were living with? Who were they?"

"It was a group of four at first. Simon, Evie and Veronique and I lived in a farm outside of Dublin." He wrapped both of his hands around one of mine. "You're very warm, it's nice." He murmured distractedly. "Simon and Veronique were Parisian," he continued, "But they had come to Ireland where they were less conspicuous. Evie found Kevin in London along with Noelle. The last I heard from them was when they came to New York about twenty years ago. They're living upstate about two hours from where they found Joe in the 1930s."

"Did they follow your diet?"

He nodded. "I think for the most part they did. I came to America forty years after the others, so I don't know what they did in those years. I was a barrister in Dublin, changing my name every few years. I tried to find Carlisle, but I didn't succeed until after he'd changed Edward. Even then, we'd really only come in contact every ten years. In the 1980s I went to Denali and met the Cullen family for the first time. I started living with them a while later. They've really grown on me as a group, but when they moved here initially I didn't come along. I still didn't want the human contact, in case I slipped up again. So I lived in Denali until August, when Carlisle insisted I come down to visit."

"Then what happened?"

He chuckled, gesturing expansively. "I think you know what happened next. I fell in love with this place. Both here and Denali are beautiful, but Forks had this pull to it. It was almost as if I had to be here." He looked at the clock and then outside at the school, where people were pouring out of the buildings. "And we're just in time for 8th period. Want me to wait for you?"

"Yeah," I muttered, sliding out of the car carefully. "I'm totally going to hurt Mike Newton today."

He grinned mischievously. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

I didn't dream that night, thankfully. I didn't think my brain could take another ride on the emotional roller coaster that had defined the last two days of my life.

As usual, I didn't pay any attention in my morning classes, and as a result French came all too quickly. Some girl made a huge deal of asking the guy who sat next to her to the dance. I turned towards Patrick to make fun of her and was greeted with a pink rose and a note. I opened the note and read it.

_Dance?_

I glanced at Patrick who had an intentionally goofy look on his face. "The dance?"

"What do you say Sweetums?" He said, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The class turned around instantly and it was completely silent as they waited for an answer.

I wrinkled my nose. "Sweetums?" I asked quietly.

"I thought I'd try it out." Patrick shrugged.

"Hmmm. Okay then. I'll go with you to the dance." I leaned across our desks and kissed him. A collective breath was let out by all the girls in our French class.

For the first time in almost a week I noticed Bella walking out of Biology. "Hey!"

She looked up, dazed, but she smiled when she recognized me. "Oh hi. How have you been?"

"I haven't seen you in a while, but I've been good. What about you? Did you ask anyone to the dance?"

She shook her head violently. "No. I'm not going to the dance. I thought I'd head up to Seattle that weekend anyway, go to a halfway decent bookstore."

"Not going to ask Mike then?" I teased.

She giggled. "He beat me to it and asked me right before Biology. I know that Jess asked him this morning though, and I told him that he should go with her."

"What about Edward?" I asked.

She sighed. "We've been over this. Edward doesn't even talk to me. The one time besides today he even acknowledged my existence was the day after the accident."

I listened half-heartedly to Bella's insisting that Edward had absolutely no interest in her. Something registered late in my brain. "Wait, what do you mean today he acknowledged your existence?"

"He was just looking at me funny," Bella replied. "Not in any particular way, just like he was trying to figure something out. Then, as class was finishing up he decides to confuse me with all this cryptic talk about how it's better that we're 'not friends'" She clenched her fists lightly before walking into the locker room ahead of me. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah." I trotted into the locker room after her.

I got out of gym as quickly as possible and slid into Patrick's car. He put the car in gear and started to drive out. I glanced behind me and noticed Edward waiting for the rest of the family in the Volvo. Bella was right behind him and I could see Tyler, the boy who'd caused the accident, leaning into her open window. Patrick's eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror. "Guess Tyler's going to have to deal with disappointment."

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"I'm sure Bella turned him down," he pointed out, driving down the main road.

"She's going to Seattle that weekend anyway." I sat for a minute before brightening. "Hey, we should go to Port Angeles one night for Italian."

Patrick's eyebrows furrowed. "She's going to Seattle, seriously? What about mileage?"

I shrugged. "Come on. We should hurry to my house. Dad wants you to eat dinner with us."


	13. Pretend to Be Nice

Uh, yeah, not dead or anything. Real life just decided to be a dear and kick me in the ass.

Disclaimer: _Those Edward and Bella kids aren't mine, or anyone else's except Stephenie Meyer, who is very generous to allow us all to play with them._

Chapter 12: Pretend to be Nice

"You should stop staring," Patrick reminded me dutifully. "It's impolite and makes you cross-eyed. Plus you never know who might stare back."

"I can stare at who I want to stare at," I shot back. "I mean even you, the vampire, has to admit that this," I gestured in the general direction of what I was staring at, "is weird. Your best friend sitting at lunch with the girl he hates the most, and not only that, but he looks happy about it. It's official, Forks has become a breeding ground for random couples."

"They're not dating," Patrick corrected quickly. "He's probably asking her questions for biology." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "And he doesn't hate her."

"Yeah," I scoffed. "Since when have any of you ever needed help on anything? And you're the one with superpowers. Can't you just listen in on their conversation? Or is that against the code of ethics with the Justice League?"

Patrick shot me a scathing glare. "We aren't superheroes, and I don't even know what the Justice League is so I assure you we aren't in that either. And didn't your mother ever tell you it was rude to listen in on other people's conversations?"

"Nope," I grinned impishly. "She's the one that taught me how."

Patrick shook his head, his eyes looking upward. "Why me?"

I shrugged, allowing that, before getting up and making my way towards the exit. I overheard snatches of quick whispers containing Bella and Edward's names. It made me feel a little better to know that I wasn't the only one who found the situation weird. I'm sure none of the school gossips knew what to do with this information. First Edward and Patrick don't date anyone, then Patrick starts dating me and Edward starts sitting alone with Bella. It was enough to make my head spin a little, let alone anyone else's.

I didn't need to turn around to know that he was right behind me, because I could feel him, feel his gaze on my back and the slight hint of his emotions, a mixture of reluctance and nerves. That was how it always had been with me, once I'd known someone and spent enough time with them one on one. I could learn their emotions, their facial expressions, and their movements. He was still walking, but a little faster in order to catch up to me. I decided to beat him to it. "Hi Jack. What do you want?"

"How do you do that?" Jack mumbled, half to himself. "I would always try to scare you and you would end up scaring me. It's not fair."

"On a schedule here," I tapped my foot impatiently. "What do you need?"

"Can't I just say hello to my sister?" He asked easily. I raised my eyebrow. "No, well then fine. I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind if while Dad was on his trip to get the deposition if Christine and Diane maybe came to visit? I know they want to see you."

"Um," I stalled, my mind working quickly. Diane, I was still a little pissed at, but I wouldn't mind being able to see her again. Christine, on the other hand, was a heinous bitch and a cheater at that. "Yes to Diane, no to Christine."

Jack rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. "Well I wasn't really asking your permission, because they're coming in tonight, so deal with it. We need to drive to Port Angeles to pick them up."

"I have plans," I snapped. "You're going to have to go get them yourself."

"Why are you being so difficult?" Jack was quickly getting more irritated with me.

"I just don't like your girlfriend," I replied.

He smirked. "Well I don't like your boyfriend, so there."

I burst out laughing. "You're such a loser Jack." I hugged him lightly. "What am I going to do without you next year?"

"Kill yourself?" Jack hugged me back, and I smiled internally, happy that we hadn't gotten into one of those huge fights that seemed to happen every so often. "But seriously Sara, there's something about that guy. He's not horrible, but be careful."

"Wait," I stammered. "What do you mean?"

Jack shrugged half-heartedly. "I'm telling you what I mean. Be careful. I know guys, and I remember what I was like as a sophomore. He might just turn around and dump you one day, without a warning." He reached out and ruffled my hair. "Tell you what, if he does, I'll kick his ass for you." He spun on his heel and sauntered off towards the parking lot, leaving me with my mouth open.

A pale finger tilted my chin upwards, while the other arm gently tugged at my waist drawing me closer. "I'm not going to break up with you." He frowned. "I'm actually a little disappointed that Jack thought that I could do something like that."

My only response was to press my face in his jacket, breathing in the familiarity of him. Even though we'd been together for a short while, I couldn't imagine not being with him, because when I was it was like everything just fell into place. Every quirk and flaw that I contained was tempered with the ones that were in his personality. I needed him. I needed this.

"… can't go with you to class." Patrick was still talking, but I only caught the tail end of the sentence.

"Why not?"

"Emmett heard there was blood typing today in biology. Edward and I both agree that it's not in anyone's best interest for either of us to be near that room." He looked sad for a moment before smiling softly at me. "I'll wait for you until after school though. I think it would be better for both you and Jack if you didn't see each other until tonight."

I nodded. "Okay. Sounds good to me." I stood up on my tiptoes and rested my forehead on his. "I love you."

He broke out into an even bigger smile and started to walk away, throwing out over his shoulder, "I know."

I sat completely bored in French, easily conjugating the irregular verbs that the teacher threw at me. It was almost ridiculous how easy the public school French class was. Our teacher at Choate had been Russian and one of the most intimidating women I'd ever met. In fact, intimidating didn't even crack the surface. It was at times like this that I wished we hadn't moved to Forks, even if it would have meant that I wouldn't have met Patrick. I missed being academically stimulated, the thrill of going to class and being challenged on a daily basis. I shook myself out of my reverie. God, I sounded like a nerd.

Students poured out of the classrooms and I found myself looking for Bella among the onslaught of students coming from her classroom. I recognized one of her friends, Angela I remembered, and called out her name. "Do you know where Bella is?"

She shook her head. "She's probably still at the front office with the nurse. Mike said she was there with Edward Cullen when he came back."

What was Edward Cullen doing near her when she was probably bleeding? "Was she hurt?" I demanded lightly.

"No," Angela demurred. "She didn't even stay for the blood typing." She looked slightly uncomfortable to be talking with me. "I have to go to my next class, but if I see Bella I'll let her know you were looking for her."

I smiled my thanks and went to gym, and proceeded to kill the other team. It was awesome.

I was barely containing my glee as Patrick drove me home, bouncing up and down on the seat.

"Careful," Patrick warned me playfully. "People might see you and think you're a happy person."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I could say the same for you."

I didn't notice anything unusual as Patrick and I joked our way into the house. I was dissolving into a fit of giggles as we entered the stoic silence of my living room.

"Sara Trent," a high-pitched voice commented to my left. "What a pleasant surprise."

I turned and opened my mouth to say something back when I got attacked from the side by something tall and blonde.

Crap.

When I was five I met Diane Landon. This, as my father always insisted, was the beginning of the end. Diane was everything I wasn't. Where I was sullen and withdrawn, she was bubbly and effervescent and as I grew older and became more athletic she became more concerned with boys and modeling. While the modeling was limited to a few gigs with mostly family friends, the boy thing had quickly lifted off the ground and hadn't stopped since. By the time we had finished the ninth grade, Diane had quickly made her way through most of the boys in our class at Choate and even a few guys a little older.

So I wasn't being attacked technically, although Diane could be considered a force of nature unto herself. I tried to disentangle myself from my blonde best friend as Patrick looked on, a bemused smile gracing his face.

"Oh laugh it up," I said sourly to him. "A little help?" He shook his head, chuckling to himself as Diane hugged me even tighter.

"Sara Trent!" She had the same tinkly voice as always. "You're much too fabulous for Forks, Washington. When are you coming back to Choate for good?"

"Not until August," I said, uncomfortably aware of Patrick's rigidity from across the room. "But that's not important right now."

Diane smiled beatifically and wrapped her arms around me again. "I'm so glad to see you." She cast a glance at Patrick and then one back at me, raising an eyebrow. Who's that, she mouthed. I shook my head firmly and dragged her into the kitchen.

"So that's why you don't want to leave Forks?" Diane observed quietly. "Can't say I blame you. He's seriously hot."

"He's seriously off limits, Diane." I said crossly. "I haven't forgotten about Matt Bishop yet."

"Ugh," Diane groaned good-naturedly. "He's so 8th grade Sara. He was a horrible kisser too. I was right to take him off your hands."

"Who's Matt Bishop?" Patrick asked curiously. "You haven't mentioned him before."

Diane stifled a giggle and turned around, extending a hand. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Sara's best friend, Diane Landon. And you are?"

Patrick looked at me for confirmation and I nodded almost imperceptibly. He smiled disarmingly at Diane. "Patrick Cullen, Sara's boyfriend. So I take it you're the person responsible for those pictures a while back?"

Diane blanched and turned back towards me. "You forgive me for that right? I totally didn't mean it; I seriously thought it was for something else. The reporter totally misled me, that bitch." She held out her arms. "Friends?"

"Totally," I smiled hugely. Sometimes it was so easy to like Diane.

She squealed and linked her arm around mine, leading me up the stairs. "Gosh, your boyfriend is really hot. How did you hook up with him?" She paused mid-step and craned her neck back down the stairs to where Patrick was patiently sitting on the couch. "I totally have to steal him from you!" She giggled her tinkly laugh and skipped up the rest of the stairs.

And sometimes it was easy to hate Diane.

oooo

The next day, word had spread like wildfire throughout the school about Bella almost fainting in Biology. Various girls had claimed to actually seeing Edward Cullen pick her up and carry her into the front office, but no one could actually confirm what exactly had happened. It seemed that drama had pervaded the halls of Forks high school.

Not that I had really been able to add any comments myself, considering I was part of the rumor mill and anything I would say would be blown up out of proportion. God, I hated high school.

Jack was off being all couple-y with Christine and making anyone within fifteen feet of them absolutely nauseous. Thank god for Diane. She was exactly what I had needed this week.

She tried to convince me to bring her to school so she could meet all the friends I'd made, but I had told her that the only time she could come was during lunch. So, it was with apprehension that I waited outside the cafeteria for Diane to appear from the parking lot.

She definitely knew how to make an appearance. Even though it had to be about 56 degrees outside, Diane was dressed in a thin white dress, complete with thick black belt and pencil thin red shoes. In other words, she was definitely trying to assert her superiority over the residents of Forks. And it was working.

Diane smirked over her shoulder and extended her hand towards me. "Are you ready to show the world your fabulousness Sara Trent?"

No, I wasn't, because I wasn't all that fabulous, but dammit if I wasn't going to let my best friend make a fool out of herself alone. God knows she'd never let me embarrass myself alone.

As we entered the cafeteria Patrick wordlessly appeared by my side and slung an arm around me. I smiled my thanks as Diane cast a cool and appraising look around the cafeteria.

"This is it?" Diane asked uncertainly. "This is what you guys do for lunch? Where's the salad bar?"

"Yep," Patrick drawled with a slow smile. "Better get food while you still can, city kid."

She cautiously poked at the entrée on her tray and looked up at me worriedly.

"Well Dorothy," I cracked. "I guess you're not in Kansas anymore."

She laughed and looked around the room again. "Who's that?"

I didn't even have to look. "Is he sitting with a brunette?"

"Yeah," she wrinkled her nose. "She's not that pretty though."

"Forget it Diane," I muttered. "Not even you can get Edward Cullen."

She frowned for a minute as realization dawned on her. "Is that your brother?" she asked Patrick excitedly.

"Kind of," he said lamely. "We're not really related."

"Who's the girl?" Diane craned her neck to get a better look. "How long have they been together?"

"They aren't dating," Patrick and I said at the same time. Patrick shot me a glance before continuing. "Bella and Edward aren't dating, they're just lab partners."

Diane had a predatory gleam in her eyes. "I could totally get Edward Cullen," she said triumphantly. "I think you're underestimating the Landon charm."

"Why don't you go try out that charm then," Patrick suggested gleefully. "If you're so confident it's going to work."

"Is that a dare?" She stood up eagerly. "I accept Mr. Cullen."

As she set off to go get Edward, I turned towards Patrick. "You know if she gets him, she's going to be insufferable for the rest of the weekend."

"She's not going to get anything close to a date," Patrick said firmly.

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't know anyone that Diane hasn't been able to get. She's dated practically every guy I've ever met. If she can't get Edward, nobody can."

Patrick shook his head, and smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure about that last one."

I let that sink in. "Wait a second." I looked at Edward and Bella. They seemed wrapped up in their own little world, and Diane was about to ruin that little bubble of peace. "He likes Bella?"

Patrick shrugged. "Personally, I think so. It makes a lot more sense than whatever crap Rosalie's been spouting for the past few weeks."

"That sounds about right," I nodded. That did make more sense. It explained the sudden interest in what it was like being with a human a few days earlier, the meaningful stare in Biology and the fact that he'd saved her life.

Patrick snorted. "Thank you, love guru. Glad to know my theory gets your seal of approval."

"That's right," I shot back. "I am the love guru." Diane's hair flashed in the corner of my eye and I turned curiously, to see what was going to happen.

Half the school was staring at the blonde leaning against the table that Bella and Edward were currently sitting at. Bella was staring at Diane, with something akin to shock in her eyes, whereas Edward's face was that of annoyance and amusement. Diane bent down towards Edward's ears and whispered something. God only knows what she was doing. She pulled away and smirked down at Bella before glancing at Edward again. Edward shook his head and I saw his mouth move, but had no idea what he was saying.

Patrick snickered beside me. "Classic Edward." He grabbed the tray and stood up. "I should probably leave you two alone, so she doesn't try to get me to explain what just happened."

Diane's face was placid, but I could sense the swirling of anger and frustration behind it. She sat down in a huff.

"So he said no?" I ventured.

Diane's expression was mutinous. "Who the hell does he think he is?" she fumed. "I'm Diane Landon. I dated Jesse McCartney as a freshman in high school." She looked at me. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

"I think Edward Cullen's a little hotter than Jesse McCartney, Diane." She glowered at me and opened her mouth again. "Not that you aren't completely capable of getting him. It's just, you interrupted his lunch with Bella, and this is just me, but I would have told you 'no' too. Not that I don't love you, because you're my best friend, but still. Not the smartest plan you've ever come up with."

She sighed. "Yeah, I probably could have gone about that a different way." She shook her head. "Why didn't I wear the Gucci?" She asked plaintively. "I know he would have gone for the Gucci."

"Because the Gucci's not made for Forks, Washington." I countered. "But, seriously Diane. Let's focus on the task at hand. What are we going to do this weekend? Patrick and his family are going camping, so it's you and I all weekend."

Diane grinned. "Duh."

I looked at her questioningly. She smirked. "Sara Trent, don't tell me you've forgotten how to party."

Double Crap.

oooo

"So if you're not going camping, what are you doing?" We were currently in his car, listening to some random music off his iPod.

Patrick looked at me with a smirk on his face. "You're a straight A student Sara, you figure it out."

It took a couple of minutes. "Ohhhh," I murmured. "Why couldn't you just tell me that earlier?"

"I'm sure that would have really thrown Diane for a loop," Patrick snickered. "Can you imagine us all sitting there, and me turning to you. 'Hey, sorry we can't hang out this weekend, I'll be killing a few bears so that I don't kill people. Love you, bye.'"

"Well, when you put it that way," I trailed off. "Knowing Diane she probably would have liked you even more."

Patrick shuddered. "She's predatory. You can totally tell."

"How's that?" I was interested.

Patrick pulled me closer, moving his lips down towards my ear. "It's all in the forward pointing eyes."

"Can't you just pretend to be nice?" I shoved at him ineffectually. "That's my best friend you're talking about here. Just because you're my boyfriend doesn't mean you get best friend mockery status. You'll just have to keep those kind of thoughts to yourself."

"Fine," Patrick sighed dramatically. "But just so you know, censorship is so 1990's."

"That's so not the point of this conversation," I pointed out. "We should be talking about important stuff."

"What? Like calling each other honey, darling and being schmoopy?" Patrick mocked. "Because that's so how you and I interact with one another."

"No," I drew the word out slowly, enunciating the ridiculousness of his statement. "What I meant was, we should try and set up Edward and Bella together."

Patrick's eyes widened. "I don't think that's such a good idea Sara."

"Why not?" I challenged. "I think it's terribly romantic."

"I think it's romantically terrible," Patrick shot back with a dazzling grin.

I frowned. "You're romantically terrible."

Patrick laughed. "What do you expect me to say back, 'your mom's romantically terrible.' Which now that I think of it, she kind of is. I saw one of her movies the other day. The 1980's were none too kind."

"Hey!" I glared. "No mom mocking either. But seriously, why do you think it's such a bad idea? You and I work out fine."

Patrick cleared his throat. "First off, I'm much older than Edward, and I've actually had experience in dating. Secondly, your blood isn't half as appealing as Bella's is, and I don't have an urge to kill you everytime we start talking. Thirdly – "

"Wait," I interjected. "Blood? Killing?" I widened my eyes. "What are you, a vampire?"

"Ha ha," Patrick said dryly. "You think I'm kidding."

I smirked. "Blood's blood, isn't it?"

"Hardly," Patrick muttered. "Imagine it this way. You're Dior Poison, and she's Love Spell."

"Ew!" I shuddered. "If I smell like Dior Poison, why are you even dating me? God, I feel like I should shower now."

Patrick ran a hand through his hair. "I swear, for being as smart as you are, you surprise me with your stupidity."

"But how do you really feel?" I smirked. "But seriously, Patty. We need to plot."

"Patty?" He raised an eyebrow. "We're going to need to get new nicknames for one another."

"I happen to like my name," I informed him loftily. "It's short, concise, only two syllables, extremely easy to clap out. Patrick, on the other hand, has that tricky thing with the 'atr' and you stumble on the pronunciation. Patty is perfect."

"In a completely emasculating and twisted way," Patrick insisted. "No nicknames. New rule." I opened my mouth to protest but he stayed firm. "No plotting either. You don't need to get in any more trouble then you're already in."

"You suck," I muttered half-heartedly.

"No," Patrick said cheerily. "I bite. There's a difference."

oooo

With Patrick gone for the weekend my only social opportunities were Bella and Diane, and given the fact that Diane had so blatantly disregarded Bella that day in the cafeteria, it looked like Bella was out. So it was me, Diane, Jack and Christine. In a house. By ourselves. Kill me now, thanks.

Christine was a year younger than Jack, and she took great pride in the fact that she'd managed to sink her French manicured talons into Jack Trent as a mere freshman. I would have tried to point out on several occasions that I'd dated a junior as a freshman, but I enjoyed having my vision unimpaired, so I kept such thoughts to myself.

Yes, Christine was pretty, but so was Helen of Troy, and look where that got the Trojans. I wasn't interested in starting the apocalypse anytime soon by getting even more on Christine's bad side. Because, not gonna lie, Christine viewed me as a threat to her future happiness as a trophy wife. Just the thought of having to sit through Jack and Christine's wedding made me want to vomit.

So I was stuck up in my room with Diane flipping through fashion magazines, when I could have been doing like, homework or something equally as arduous. Which wasn't completely horrible, but still I would have much preferred being with my boyfriend.

"Hey!" I looked up from my reading just to barely avoid the piece of paper that was flying at me. Diane had her arms crossed. "I've been saying your name for, like, at least 5 minutes."

"Sorry," I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. "What do you want?"

"Hello?" Diane gave me a pointed look. "How did you meet him? Why is his family so hot? You know, all the important questions."

"They're not his family Diane," I explained. "He was taken in by Dr. Cullen and his wife a few years back, after his parents died in London in a car crash."

"Oh," Diane looked contrite for a minute, before brightening. "Were they rich? Because that means he's got all the money they had."

"Uh, I guess so, Diane," I resisted rolling my eyes. "I was more concerned with not making him depressed about his family then asking him just how much his net worth."

"Gosh, Trent," Diane scoffed, rolling over to file her nails. "I was just asking. Sorry for like insulting your relationship with your boyfriend."

"He's not just my boyfriend!" I blurted out, immediately regretting what I had just said.

Diane turned to face me, eyebrow raised. "Well, than what is he then?" She lowered your voice. "Have you guys done it yet?"

"No!" I exclaimed, trying to figure out why I had just said that Patrick wasn't just my boyfriend. "I just love him, is all I meant. We haven't even talked about sex yet Diane. Not all of us girls are like you, Diane."

"I know," Diane giggled. "But that's why it's so much fun being me." She grinned before returning back to the fashion magazine.

I shuddered internally. For once I was really seeing my best friend for what she was, vapid and shallow. I mean, she'd always been this carefree girl who didn't let everything affect her, but this was the first time it had really dawned on me what I could have become. If I hadn't moved to Forks would I have ended up like this? I quickly abandoned this line of thinking, instead suggesting to Diane that we go out to dinner. She jumped at the opportunity to leave the house, dressing herself in some ridiculously inappropriate outfit.

We were about to leave the house when Christine appeared in front of us.

"Where are you two going?" She asked superciliously.

I tried to push past her, but she was already in front of me. "We're going to dinner Christine. You know, that thing you do when you put food in your mouth and swallow." I smiled sweetly at her. "But you wouldn't know about any of that, would you?"

She sneered at me. "Whatever Sara. Figures you would find something you liked in this hick town anyways."

I pushed past her without responding, some things just weren't worth my time. Diane followed me, but not before smiling tightly at Christine. I guess it's hard when your second cousin is your best friend's least favorite person. Thankfully, in Diane's case, blood didn't run thicker than water.

We wound up at this tiny little diner on the edge of Forks, complete with flickering sign and empty parking lot.

Diane grimaced. "Perfect, we're stuck in a horror movie. If we get attacked by a homicidal maniac, I'm using you as a human shield."

"Thanks," I said wryly. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind when I get married." I checked my phone for messages, just in case Patrick had decided to call me. Nothing. This was the longest I'd been away from him since I'd found out what he was. But that was okay, I would have to deal with it soon, when I left to go back to New York.

"So, what are you and lover boy doing when you come back home?" Diane seemed to read my mind.

I shrugged. "We're not really thinking about it. I don't want to break up with him, and I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want to break up with me. It's just hard with his family, and the fact that I have to leave in a couple of months, especially when I'll be living with my mother again."

"Yeah," Diane looked thoughtful, a rare look for her. "I guess you just have to ask yourself what you really want. Do you want to stay here with no family and the guy you think you're in love with, or do you want to come back to New York, where most of your other friends are? There's always going to be other guys, Sara. Plus you'll be closer to Jack, and I know you wouldn't like being across the country from him."

I was silent for a moment, letting all this process, while Diane patiently waited for my response. "I wouldn't be able to stay here without a parent, so unless Dad falls in love with his job, which he seems to think is just okay, I guess I'd have to go back to New York, but I don't know if I'd be very happy about it."

"Oh my God," Diane leaned back, shell-shocked. "You really do like this guy." I tried to defend myself but she put her hand up. "I thought you were maybe just with him because he was attractive and a good distraction, but you, Miss I Love New York, would actually consider living in this little town until graduation, just so you could date that boy."

"I guess so."

Diane beamed, reaching across the table to give me a hug. "My little Sara is all grown up. I feel like such a proud mother."

I shoved her hands away ineffectually, not fully realizing the implications of what had just happened, but I felt like something had just changed in my life, and I wasn't sure if it was exactly what I'd been hoping for.

_A/N: Can anyone else totally picture Diane being Scarlett Johansson? That's who I picture her as, so that's who she is. _


End file.
